The Kingstown Mayor’s Boss has dubbed the Paramount+ series “the most dangerous show on TV,” but their marketing campaign is suddenly coy.
Before series star Jeremy Renner was seriously injured in a January 1 snow plow accident, his character appeared in season two’s key art with a badly scratched face. But now that the actor’s face has a shockingly similar shape to what he showed in a photo posted from his hospital bed, the marketing has been adjusted. While the same image and language appear, Paramount+ removed the bloody wounds out of respect for Renner and his recovery.
“It’s good for the network,” co-creator Hugh Dillon tells , adding of Renner, who stars in the intensely gritty crime drama as the unofficial mayor of a prison-filled prison, “Everyone’s sensitive to Jeremy.”
This is hardly the first marketing campaign to require customization. Turning points of all kinds have occurred, especially in the face of tragedy or, more often, scandal. Kevin Spacey, for example, was removed from the All the Money in the World posters (and later from the film itself) following allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017. Some five years earlier, following the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin by a Neighborhood Watch captain, Fox removed posters for his space comedy Neighborhood Watch, which suddenly went by the bad name.
Luckily for Kingstown, season two was unaffected. Renner, who was hospitalized with “blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries” when the series returned on January 15, had stopped production when the accident happened. Looking ahead, Dillon says he and co-creator Taylor Sheridan are already busy hatching ideas for a third season should their star be ready to return.
Additional reporting by Brian Davids.
This story first appeared in the January 18 issue of magazine. Click here to login.