A new trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has the highly anticipated film generating controversy just as it hits US theaters.
The clip in question aired in the UK during the World Cup semi-finals and has many parents demanding a boycott of the Gary Oldman blockbuster:
It’s the action that takes place around the 1:20 mark that’s creating in an uproar.
In the scene, a highly-evolved simian outsmarts two humans and proceeds to blow them away with their own shotgun.
While the clip has been available online for weeks, the World Cup is the European equivalent of the Super Bowl in terms of ratings and ad revenues and its the fact that the extended trailer aired during a family-friendly TV event that has many Brits crying foul:
"Thanks for selling ads for #DawnOfApes showing a chimp blowing a man’s head off when kids will be awake 4 world cup," tweeted the BBC’s Tim Wheeler.
20th Century Fox even aired a teaser for the trailer earlier in the evening, promising viewers a "dramatic Apes clip."
The srudio has declined to comment on the controversy, but we’re guessing the added publicity will do little to damage the box office of the much-anticipated sequel to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes.