Following the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Fox has opted to cancel the New York premiere for Kingsman: The Golden Circle due to the upcoming Hurricane Harvey Telethon, Variety reports.
The New York premiere for the highly-anticipated sequel was set to take place on September 12th, the same day Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Harvey Relief will air live at 8 p.m. ET across ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CMT. The telethon will feature stars such as Beyonce, George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey and will run for an hour, with proceeds from the event set to go towards relief efforts towards various charities to help aid recovery efforts in Houston.
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Regarding their decision to cancel the premiere, Fox cited the fundraiser and the importance of the event, explaining that instead of holding the premiere, they will instead donate the money they’d budgeted for it to several non-profit groups that will be participating in the telethon.
“Given the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey and the important fundraising efforts happening on September 12, we have canceled that evening’s planned New York film premiere event for ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle,’” a studio spokesperson said. “To that end, Twentieth Century Fox Film will be donating the money budgeted for the premiere to several of the non-profit groups associated with the telethon.”
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As for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, the film is currently tracking ahead of its predecessor, with the sequel eyeing a $40 million plus domestic debut, well ahead of the first film’s $36.2 million domestic debut back in February 2015.
Debuting in theaters on September 22, Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a production of Marv Films directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Taron Egerton, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Elton John, Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges.