HOLLYWOOD—In response to public outcry by motor vehicle associations, theaters across the country pulled the film Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Friday following reports of the on-set mistreatment of cars. “We could no longer in good conscience continue distributing this film after watching secret video footage, which showed the production company inflicting cruel physical punishment on dozens of cars, breaking windows, smashing headlights, and repeatedly slamming the poor vehicles against walls,” said Universal Pictures president Jimmy Horowitz, promising that the studio would not tolerate the vicious abuse endured by the Corvettes, Mustangs, and Broncos prominently featured throughout the movie. “Learning that these beautiful cars were subjected to such inhumane working conditions made me sick to my stomach. This cannot stand. Audiences deserve a fun action movie, not the reckless endangerment of innocent vehicles, many of which were less than a year old. Unfortunately, there’s evidence that many of the actors were very rough with these cars, forcing them off cliffs and ramming them with trucks. I’ll never forget the sight of a battered Aston Martin with a busted axle that they just abandoned in the middle of nowhere.” At press time, the film’s director David Leith denied accusations that the production cruelly kept cars locked inside hot, dark spaces with poor ventilation and little room to move.

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