Apple TV has quietly shelved a new French-language revenge thriller less than two weeks before it was set to premiere on the streaming platform. This is the second time a program has been pulled from the streamer’s upcoming slate following the indefinite postponement of The Savant, the Jessica Chastain thriller series that was deemed too insensitive to show following the death of Charlie Kirk earlier this year. This time, there is no reason known for the delay.
The Hunt (or Traqués in its native French) was acquired by Apple TV earlier in the year, and was set to be released on the platform on December 3, 2025. Created by Cédric Anger, the show follows Franck (Benoît Megimel) and his longtime friends, who spend weekends hunting together, come across another group who begin targeting them for no apparent reason. Despite one of their group being shot, they strike back and manage to escape. However, as Franck goes back to his normal life with wife Krystel (Mélanie Laurent), he senses he is being watched or tracked by hunters now hell-bent on revenge.
While the show could be said to have some similarities to The Savant – through the shared theme of motiveless shooting and radicalization – it is unclear whether this has anything to do with why the show’s trailers and marketing information has been cleared out or made private ahead of its expected release date.
‘The Savant’s Postponement Drew a Reaction from Jessica Chastain
While there have been many instances of TV shows and movies being involuntarily aligned with real-life events, The Savant’s story of dark web radicalization is one that seems to be prevalent at any time. While the events surrounding the death of Charlie Kirk are still recent, in today’s fraught climate it is likely that some kind of mindless violence will have just played out in recent weeks at any given time.
The delay of The Savant is something that star Jessica Chastain did not completely believe to be the right decision, but accepted Apple’s decision all the same. She commented at the time:
“I want to say how much I value my partnership with Apple. They’ve been incredible collaborators and I deeply respect their team. That said, I wanted to reach out and let you know that we’re not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant. In the last five years since we’ve been making the show, we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States: the kidnapping attempt on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer; the January 6th attack on the Capitol; the assassination attempts on President Trump; the political assassinations of Democratic representatives in Minnesota; the attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband; the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk; the recent shooting at an ABC affiliate station in California; and over 300 school shootings across this country. I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. While I respect Apple’s decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon.”