Adam Green shocked, shocked that under-performing Hatchet II is no longer in AMC theaters

By Leonard Pierce | October 5, 2010 | 8:30pm

Aux Features Film

Director Adam Green is reportedly "bewildered and confused" by the decision of AMC theater execs to pull his swampocentric murder sequel Hatchet II after only four days of general release. That release, however, was already controversial; Green and the theater chain made the unusual decision to screen the sequel in an unrated form, since the director had expressed his frustration with the MPAA's arbitrary decisions, such as to keep the number of times any individual character is struck by an axe-blade in the single digits.

Unsurprisingly, AMC takes the position that pulling Hatchet II was a business decision, and, given that its opening weekend gross was a puny $70,000, that's not hard to believe. Unless, of course, you are Adam Green, who displayed an impish sense of humor by claiming he didn't see the connection between a movie getting precipitately pulled and its box office performance. Green then pretended to be "stressed" at the unfortunate turn of events, just as if he didn't know that being "banned from cinemas" would result in several million dollars more in DVD and on-demand sales.