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AP

Netflix Will Cut Controversial Footage From ‘Bird Box’

Mar 15, 2019  •  Post A Comment

Months after coming under fire over a controversial sequence in its post-apocalyptic film “Bird Box,” Netflix has agreed to remove the footage from the film. The AP reports that the streamer’s use of footage of a real-world train disaster brought criticism that Netflix was exploiting the tragedy.

“The stock footage was taken from a 2013 crash in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic when a train carrying crude oil came off the tracks and exploded into a massive ball of fire, killing 47 people,” the AP reports. “Netflix licensed the footage from the stock image vendor Pond 5 and used it in ‘Bird Box’ in an early TV news montage. The Sandra Bullock-led thriller is about monstrous entities that compel any human who sees them to quickly try to kill themselves.”

Netflix apparently changed its mind after initially resisting calls to edit out the footage.

“Pond 5 in January said the footage ‘was taken out of context’ and apologized,” the AP reports. “But Netflix said at the time it wasn’t planning to cut the clip, although [it] said it was looking at ways to do things differently moving forward.”

The streaming service will reportedly replace the footage with an outtake from a former U.S. TV series. Netflix said it is “sorry for any pain caused to the Lac-Megantic community.”

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