Michael Bay has apologised for a short clip of footage of a real plane crash that had been used in a new movie from his production company, Platinum Dunes.
In an email to the Air Force Times, Katie Martin Kelley, Paramount’s executive vice-president for publicity, said that the footage will be removed from Project Almanac.
Kelley said that Project Almanac — a film directed by Dean Israelite — is still scheduled to be released later this month.
The Air Force Times notes that the footage “appears nearly identical” to a clip of a fatal crash at an Air Force base that left four people dead in 1994. Earlier this week, Paramount told Air Force Times that it was from a 2009 crash in Japan.
In a statement to the newspaper, Bay said he didn’t realise the clip was from a real crash.
“I have asked Paramount Pictures to remove this shot immediately from the picture,” Bay said in the statement. “I want to also extend my deepest apology to the families, and also to the US Air Force.”
Here’s what Bay’s statement said about the shot, according to the newspaper:
“Unfortunately today I learnt that the movie Project Almanac, produced by my Platinum Dunes company, directed by a talented first-time director, used a 2-second shot in a grainy news clip of a real B-52 crash. When the director presented his cut to me, I actually thought the short clip was a created visual effect like many of the other shots in the film.
“I let film directors make their movies at Platinum Dunes and give them tremendous responsibilities. Well, unfortunately a very bad choice was made to use a real crash instead of creating a VFX shot, without realising the impact it could have on the families.”
The B-52 crash at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state killed Lt. Col. Arthur “Bud” Holland, the pilot, as well as Lt. Col. Kenneth Huston, Lt. Col. Mark McGeehan and Col. Robert Wolff.
“Mr. Bay, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your apology and your quick response to this,” Wolff’s daughter, Whitney Wolff Thompson, told Air Force Times. “I appreciate your willingness to admit that this was indeed a real plane crash, and that a mistake was made in choosing to use it.”
