Scrapped Heathers Film Adaptation Goes International After School Shooting Craze

Pay no attention to Janie because Christian Slater’s got a gun. And he’s the reason why the Heathers film, now turned into a series, won’t be seeing a stateside release. The Paramount network planned on releasing a full 10 episodes worth of first season when it came to a rehashed Heathers project, but that was before the Parkland shooting. Who knew that at least one side effect of a school shooting could be positive. An angel gets its wings every time a Hollywood reboot is canned. Unfortunately, Paramount was only putting up a front and refused to lose money over crisis actors, conspiracy theorist, and outcast kids treating their classmates like the opposing team in a Call of Duty Kill Confirmed match. The finished project’s release was only partially canceled. A few places that matter outside of America, in addition to some randos that don’t, still get to see all 10 episodes without an issue.

Jason Micallef’s series adaptation of the ’80s cult classic was delayed and eventually scrapped by the fledgling Viacom network last month. Featuring suicides by several high school students and the destruction of a school building, the show was deemed too controversial to air on the ad-supported network in the weeks following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In a statement, the Viacom network said its decision to hit the pause button in the series was “right thing to do.”

It will instead air on HBO or its streaming service in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Andorra, Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome & Principe.

So I’m going to guess school shootings are a First World problem. Maybe Sasha Cohen was onto to something with giving kids guns. Because when you reside in a country where you’ve been a child soldier using an AK-47 longer than you’ve been able to form full sentences, random acts of violence aren’t that random. They’re the norm. Some celebrity waving a gun in school setting wouldn’t offend too many people from the list of places where the Heathers series release is being made available.