Stan’s Australian comedy C*A*U*G*H*T has been pulled from the forthcoming International Co-Production and Entertainment Content Market (MIPCOM) in Cannes as a result of the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant organisation Hamas, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter this week.
The show, starring and executive produced by Sean Penn, in which Australian soldiers are taken hostage in the fictional island of Behati-Prinsloo, was scheduled to be shown to potential international buyers at the annual event next week.
But production company Fremantle, which produced the series for Stan and holds international sales rights, announced it was withdrawing the show.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Fremantle said: ‘In light of the current situation unfolding in Israel, we have taken the decision not to showcase C*A*U*G*H*T at MIPCOM this year. At this time, our hearts and thoughts are with our colleagues and our partners in Israel, and all those affected.’
ITVX, a UK streaming service, has also announced that its launch of the show will be delayed.
C*A*U*G*H*T was created by Australian actor-writer Kick Gurry and stars, alongside Penn, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, Bryan Brown, Silvia Colloca and Fayssal Bazzi.
In his recent review for ScreenHub, Stephen A Russell gave the show two stars:
Watching this deeply un-hot mess drop amidst a torrent of lumpenly crass ‘jokes’ is a bewildering and disheartening experience. When one freedom fighter suggests that killing the Australians could be ‘a public relations disaster for us. Everybody loves Australians,’ you wind up kinda siding with Shami when she asks, perplexed: ‘Why?’
C*A*U*G*H*T works to death the rock-bottom ocker stereotypes that inexplicably made Crocodile Dundee one of the biggest hits we have ever exported. It looks terribly cheap, the lighting in particular is all over the place, and there are whole subplots going nowhere. Most of the women involved are horribly hard done by, including Slam star Rebecca Breeds as an unpopular podcaster even Gurry seems to have forgotten is there.
C*A*U*G*H*T review: help, the comedy’s AWOL
