The team behind the upcoming ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beast’ movie is facing backlash for a trailer featuring imagery reminiscent of the September 11 attacks.
A shot from the teaser – that is currently on Twitter – shows heavy billowing black smoke and gray clouds surrounding the Twin Towers in New York City.
Starring “Hamilton” star Anthony Ramos and “Saturday Night Live” alum Pete Davidson, the film is set in the 1990s before the Twin Towers were attacked in 2001.
Social media users reacted to the shocking sight on Monday, sharing that the image made them stop and wonder if they were seeing things right.
“This image definitely made me stop scrolling,” wrote television writer Daniel Kibblesmith, whose tweet has been viewed some 2.5 million times.
The team behind the upcoming ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beast’ movie faces backlash for a trailer featuring visuals reminiscent of the September 11 attacks
Starring “Hamilton” star Anthony Ramos and “Saturday Night Live” alum Pete Davidson, the film is set in the 1990s before the Twin Towers were attacked in 2001.
“This image definitely made me stop scrolling,” wrote television writer Daniel Kibblesmith whose tweet has been viewed some 2.5 million times
The teaser, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with Ramos and Davidson, shows off the menacing image of the New York skyline in less than 15 seconds into the clip.
The caption of the tweet reads, “It’s going to be epic. Go behind the scenes with our cast and crew and meet the new characters of #Transformers.”
The video quickly caught the attention of social media users who were shocked by the image in the clip, which shows the smoke surrounding the towers.
Hundreds of people responded to Kibblesmith’s tweet, which contained a screenshot of the 9/11 footage.
“As someone who grew up there and experienced 911 firsthand, I hate this image,” one woman wrote of the clip.
“Did this really happen, my brain is so fried by Twitter I really can’t tell if,” another person commented on Kibblesmith.
“That’s… an unfortunate shot,” one Twitter user commented.
Another person who responded shared a screengrab of the Twin Towers pointing out another factual error.
“Despite taking place in 1994, 200 West Street was not built until 2010,” they wrote.
The caption of the tweet accompanying the trailer reads, “It’s about to be epic. Go behind the scenes with our cast and crew and meet the new characters of #Transformers’
“As someone who grew up there and experienced 911 firsthand, I hate this image,” one woman wrote of the clip
Another commenter shared a screengrab of the Twin Towers, pointing out a factual inaccuracy
The film is the seventh in the popular, multibillion-dollar franchise centered around the iconic toy
It’s unclear if producers plan to cut the scene from the movie, which is set to hit theaters on June 9.
DailyMail.com reached out to Paramount for comment on the backlash, but officials did not respond in time for this report.
The film is the seventh in the popular, multibillion-dollar franchise centered around the iconic toy.
If changes are made to the scene or if the trailer is re-released, this certainly wouldn’t be the first property of its kind for Hollywood.
In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, dozens of TV shows and movies removed scenes or references to the Twin Towers.
A 2019 article from Insider collected some of the most remarkable examples of recent years.
In the case of the webbed superhero, an original trailer included a scene with Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker tying up robbers between the towers.
Director Sam Raimi spoke publicly about cutting the scene afterwards, calling it “unfathomable” to keep the reference in it.
“We thought it was not our right to show a scene of such heartbreak to so many in the middle of summer after this terrible carnage,” Raimi said.
Shows like “The Sopranos” and “Law and Order: SVU” removed references or images of the towers from their opening scenes after the attacks.
Another New York City show was forced to heavily edit an episode that aired just weeks after 9/11.
In the original version of an episode of “Friends” that aired on October 11, 2001, Chandler joked about bombs on an airplane.
At one point, Chandler Bing, played by Matthew Perry, was even detained at the airport after pulling the pranks.
The episode was completely reworked and reshot and eventually Chandler and Monica engaged in a ‘one-up’ off with another couple.