The chairman of an organisation set up to honour the memories of the victims of the 7/7 terrorist strike on London has labelled a new trailer for the Hollywood disaster movie London Has Fallen “extremely insensitive”.
Babak Najafi’s film, a big budget sequel to 2013 action thriller Olympus Has Fallen, stars Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart and Morgan Freeman in the story of an attack on the capital. Chair of the 7/7 Memorial Trust, Philip Nelson, said the timing of the trailer’s release was wrong just a few days before the 10th anniversary of Britain’s worst terrorist strike of recent times.
“This is not the first time that Hollywood has been insensitive,” he told the Mirror. “If the story is about terrorism then this is extremely insensitive. People have also recently died of a terrorist attack in Tunisia.
“I have seen an image of Big Ben with the clock face blown out, that’s also insensitive. “[Our Trust] has had lots of help from America so I just think that these are the wrong images to portray. Is the summer the best time to be promoting this film anyway?”
It was not clear whether Nelson contacted the Mirror to express his concerns or was approached for a comment by a reporter seeking to put together a story. However, the trailer for London Has Fallen has also provoked upset on Twitter.
30 British dead in Tunisia. 10th Anniversary of 7/7 next week. Today: trailer for #LondonHasFallen released. What bloody idiotic timing
— Guy Lambert (@SohoGuy) July 1, 2015
surely releasing the trailer for 'london has fallen' just under a week before the 10th anniversary of 7/7 is a touch insensitive?
— michael devlin (@mdvln) July 1, 2015
Probably not the best idea to release the trailer for a film called "London Has Fallen" a week before the 10 year anniversary of 7/7...
— Ryan Williams (@Ryan_TWilliams) July 1, 2015
Anyone finding the promotion of #LondonHasFallen a toooouuuuucchhhh insensitive with the 7/7 10th anniversary coming up?
— devillefilm (@devillefilm) July 1, 2015
Fifty-two people died and more than 700 were injured in the bombings at Russell Square, Edgware Road, Aldgate and Tavistock Square, London on 7 July 2005. Survivors and relatives of those who died will join the prime minister, David Cameron, the London mayor, Boris Johnson, other politicians and members of the emergency services at memorial events next week.
London is Fallen is due to be released in the US on 22 January.
