U.S. actor Brad Pitt poses on the red carpet prior the "World War Z" premiere at the opening ceremony of the 35th Moscow international film festival in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, June 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr) (AP2013)
Brad Pitt won’t be heading south of the equator.
The actor, currently on a promotional tour for his new film “World War Z,” has cancelled a planned appearance in Brazil due to the ongoing protests.
On Monday, Pitt was supposed to appear on the red carpet and attend a screening of the film in Rio De Janiero.
However, Paramount Pictures, the studio behind the film, decided to pull the plug last minute.
In a statement, published by Gossip Cop, Paramount send those involving in the filming of “World War Z” send their “respect and goodwill toward the people of Brazil at this time of national unrest.”
Hours before Pitt’s scheduled appearance, protests broke out again in the South American country just before President Dilma Rousseff's first meeting with some members of the protest movement.
On Monday demonstrations were blocked access to Brazil's biggest port in Santos, on the Sao Paulo state coast. It wasn't clear how many demonstrators were involved.
Protests were also seen in at least four other states, with more expected as the day goes on.
In Brasilia, Rousseff's office says she'll meet in the early afternoon with members of the Free Fare Movement. That's the group that ignited the original protests in Sao Paulo against a hike in public transport fares.
Despite having the fare hike reversed in several cities, the group says it will continue to fight for its objective of free transportation for all.
The demonstrations have all expressed concernt over allged political corruption and the excesivve spending in preparation to host the upcoming 2014 World Cup.
This past weekend, the Pitt zombie romp overcame critical advance publicity to open in second place with $66 million. Media reports months ahead of the film's opening chronicled its problems, including a revamped ending that delayed its release.
Rewrites and reshoots sent the film over budget. It ended up reportedly costing more than $200 million to make, but early reviews were positive.
"What 'World War Z' proves is that all the negative backstory that can be thrown at a movie doesn't matter if the movie's good," said Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "I don't think the audience cares one lick if they had to reshoot the ending if they like the ending and like the movie."
The success of the film means it could be a franchise in the making. Paramount's president of domestic distribution, Don Harris, called the opening "spectacular."
"It's the biggest live-action original opening since 'Avatar,'" he said. "(It's) Brad Pitt's biggest opening ever, and in terms of Paramount's recent history, it ranks behind 'Iron Man' and 'Transformers' as the third largest potential franchise opening in the history of the company."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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