Daniel Radcliffe’s upcoming movie Guns Akimbo is going ahead with its release despite the director Jason Lei Howden’s recent ‘disturbing’ tweets.
The director has been accused of targeting women of colour in now-deleted tweets, leading to uncertainty surrounding the release of the film.
Earlier this month, a screenshot of direct messages with film critic Dilara Elbir was shared, where she appeared to use the N-word. Elbir went on to post an apology video, in which she implied she had attempted suicide.
Following her video, Howden accused specific writers, including two women of colour, of ‘bullying’ Elbir until she attempted suicide.
‘You bullied a woman until she tried to commit suicide, I hope no film site ever works with you again,’ he said in one tweet, while another read: ‘You are a bully and a troll, and you need to be reported for attempted murder.’
A Saban Films representative told IndieWire: ‘We are releasing Guns Akimbo this Friday, February 28.
‘While we do not condone, agree or share Mr. Howden’s online behavior, which is upsetting and disturbing, we are supportive of the film and all the hard work and dedication that has gone into making Guns Akimbo.’
Howden’s Twitter account is no longer available.
Harry Potter actor Daniel is set to star in the new movie – although it couldn’t be much further from the wizarding world.
It sees video game developer Miles (Radcliffe) come up against Nix (Ready Or Not’s Samara Weaving) in a race against time and death – with the main man donning monster slippers as he races through a city.
The flick is described as an ‘action comedy’ with Miles being a regular guy who gets caught up in a forced fight, gladiator-style, for a dark website, Skizm, that streams violence for viewers.
Speaking of the release, Daniel told Variety: ‘I feel like it was such a fun and exciting script, it had this insane idea in the middle of it that was really fully explored.
‘It’s not just a device for crazy fight scenes, having guns for hands. It’s also a device for a lot of physical comedy that I really enjoyed. “How do you dress yourself, how do you pick up your phone, how do you go through life,” which [Jason] practiced very early on.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps for Daniel, and Saban Films for comment.
Guns Akimbo is in UK cinemas soon.
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