Colin Farrell's Sniper Movie May Wait

By Stephen M. Silverman

10/14/2002 at 11:00 AM EDT

Colin Farrell's latest movie, "Phone Booth," a thriller about a man periled by a sniper, is itself in peril, given current events in suburban Maryland and Virginia, where a sniper is currently on a killing spree.

The New York Times reports that the movie, to have been released by 20th Century Fox on Nov. 15, may be delayed. "All I can say at the moment is we are evaluating the situation," Florence Grace, a spokeswoman for the studio, tells the newspaper.

The plot involves Farrell's character's innocently picking up a pay phone and finding himself trapped on line by a sniper, played by Kiefer Sutherland. Joel Schumacher ("Bad Company") directed it. Farrell, 26, was last seen this summer in the Tom Cruise-Steven Spielberg sci-fi thriller "Minority Report."

As The Times reports, releasing "Phone Booth" at the moment would be considered tasteless. The studio's choices would be to hold the release until sometime next year or send it directly to home video.

Last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger found himself in a similar situation, when his "Collateral Damage" seemed inappropriate for release as was originally scheduled, shortly after Sept. 11. The movie was finally released this past spring.