AMC Theaters would not respond in kind after Lionsgate parodied their infamous Nicole Kidman promo, and the studio was forced to remove the video.
Last week, the marketing for Saw X moved forward with some tongue-in-cheek promotions. The new horror film released an official clip that showcased the signature torture device used on the poster of the movie with the eye trap. But the film’s social media would additionally put together a couple of satirical pieces of advertisements. One of them was a short but sweet video that displayed the movie’s riff on the popular Milton Bradley board game Operation with Saw-peration. Most notably, Lionsgate released a fun take on AMC’s promo featuring Nicole Kidman waxing poetic about the theater experience while watching a movie at an AMC theater. Except, this time, it was Jigsaw fawning over the magic of torture in movies.
The promo, dubbed We Come to This Place, was posted to the film’s social media to a bevy of positive responses as many claimed it was the best thing to come out of the franchise. The most important response, though, came from AMC theaters themselves when they demanded the parody be taken down from Saw‘s official account, according to MovieWeb. The writer of Saw X, Josh Stolberg, would respond to the development with a tweet that read, “Well, I hope y’all got a chance to see the Saw parody trailer today. It got pulled so if you did… count yourself lucky. I loved it.”
While the main channel would comply with AMC’s wishes, as many know, it’s near impossible for anything on the internet to be completely removed. The popularity of the ad parody was large enough that it was re-uploaded and shared by other accounts. So, it’s not like it was absolutely erased from existence.
The move is somewhat curious as ever since the official ad had released, it attracted people to make jokes and memes online poking fun at the overbearing sentimentality and its frequent play before movie screenings at AMC locations. The promo features Nicole Kidman giving a passionate monologue as she sits in an empty theater with her drink and basking over clips of recent films. Perhaps the schmaltzy, serious nature helped the promo reach infamy as it has been the subject of various memes and parodies, including an SNL sketch.
Luckily, we still have our own upload of the video in tact (for now), which you can view below. Saw X will screen in theaters on September 29.