Neighborhood Watch Altered Due To Trayvon Martin Case: 5 Other Badly Timed Films

Aside from a few movie posters that have yet to be taken down, there is very little trace of advertising for what was once an upcoming film Neighborhood Watch since FOX began pulling promos of the comedy the wake of the Trayvon Martin case. The 17-year old was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain in Florida.

Though the movie's plot has nothing in common with the circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting, FOX changed the title in order to prevent associations with the tragedy: As the subject matter of this alien invasion comedy bears no relation whatsoever to the recent tragic events in Florida, the studio altered the title to avoid any accidental or unintended misimpression that it might.

The film now titled The Watch stars Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, and Vince Vaughn as suburban dads who encounter aliens while volunteering to patrol their neighborhood.

Here are five films have been altered, delayed, or doomed to fail because they were comparable to horrific events.

Space Camp: The 1986 comedy centers on a group of teens who are launched into space. The film famously debuted six months after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on live TV, killing its seven crewmembers. Largely panned by critics, the film was a major failure at the box office. Roger Ebert's review of the film summed it up best: Our thoughts about the space shuttle will never be the same again, and our memories are so painful that SpaceCamp is doomed even before it begins.

O: Starring Julia Stiles, Mekhi Phifer, and Josh Hartnett, the film includes a scene of a brutal campus massacre. Initially slated for release in April of 1999, the high school reimagining of Shakespeare's Othello was postponed for two years after the Columbine High School shooting.

Buffalo Soldiers: Set in 1989, the black comedy follows a group of restless American soldiers stationed in West Berlin. Joaquin Phoenix stars as a member of the military who becomes involved in black market deals and cooking heroin. The film was set to be released in September of 2001 but following the 9/11 attacks, it was shelved due to its poor representation of soldiers. The critically acclaimed satire wasn't released until 2003.

Phone Booth: The low budget thriller was scheduled for release in November of 2002 but was pushed to early 2003 after the Beltway Sniper Attacks. In the film Colin Farrell makes a call from a phone booth and finds himself being tormented by a mysterious sniper.

Alpha Dog: Inspired by the kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, the film's release was shrouded in controversy. Reports surfaced that the victim's mother Susan Markowitz attempted suicide multiple times in the wake of the film's release because she felt that her son's death was being exploited by Hollywood. Furthermore, the trial for the murder coincided with the film's release. An attorney in the case James Blatt had the film delayed so that it would not interfere with the jury's decision. The film's release was pushed from 2006 to 2007.