The premiere of “A Dog’s Purpose” is said to be cancelled due to a leaked video of the lead German Shepherd struggling on set to cooperate with his trainer during the filming of a scene. The German Shepard “Hercules” was shown refusing to enter a tank of rushing water, while his trainer still proceeded to throw him in. After TMZ released the video clip on January 18, Wednesday evening, movie director, Lasse Hallstrom stated he was unaware of the situation- Hercules’ voice actor, Josh Gad, also was unaware of the mishap.

Due to the video clip controversy, the “A Dog’s Purpose” movie’s upcoming premiere has been cancelled. While the film is still remained to air on January 27, as planned, the Amblin staff and those involved with the training of the dogs have come together for an in-depth review of the scenes before it appears on the big screens. Both Amblin and Universal informed, “Since the emergence of the footage, Amblin has engaged with many associated with the production of the film, including safety personnel, trainers and stunt coordinators as part of their in-depth review.”

Many were concerned about the PETA organization’s input; how they felt about the released clip- in which they have said that it was “calling on dog lovers to boycott the film in order to send the message that dogs and other animals should be treated humanely, not as movie props”. Hallstrom, in turn, claimed to never use animals in films again- as well as to rescue dogs from the facility the lead canines came from: Birds & Animals Unlimited. So, in an effort to continue the showing of “A Dog’s Purpose”, as scheduled, the Amblin production team will continue to enhance their training in care and handling of the “stars” on set.

As the clip went viral online, many were contemplating whether to watch the film or not. The company regards, “there were several days of rehearsal of the water scenes to ensure Hercules was comfortable with all of the stunts-on the day of the shoot, Hercules did not want to perform the stunt portrayed on the tape so the Amblin production team did not proceed with filming that shot.” Amblin ensured, “while we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules was not harmed throughout the film-making”.