President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack on "racist" Hollywood Friday, appearing to single out an upcoming film in which liberal elites hunt down "normal folk" for sport.
"The Hunt," due to be released next month, has been billed as an ultra-violent satire about America's deep political divide.
Its plot sees people who have been kidnapped from traditionally Republican bastions such as Wyoming, Mississippi and Orlando, Florida waking up in a field surrounded by "elite" hunters, who proceed to gun them down.
The movie had already attracted controversy after adverts for the film were pulled in the wake of recent mass shootings in Texas, Ohio and California.
"Liberal Hollywood is Racist at the highest level, and with great Anger and Hate!" tweeted Trump.
"The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos," he added, without referring to "The Hunt" by name.
"They create their own violence, and then try to blame others. They are the true Racists, and are very bad for our Country!"
A spoof promotional trailer online for the luxury manor where the film's hunts take place boasts of a "5-star boutique experience" in which guests will "come face-to-face with game unlike any you have ever hunted."
"This is the ultimate human experience," a voiceover adds.
A sign warning that "only designated people may be hunted in this area" is visible in a forest.
Wealthy characters in the film refer to their prey as "deplorables," according to the Hollywood Reporter -- a term Hillary Clinton used to describe Trump supporters during her presidential run against Trump in 2016.
"We pay for everything so this country belongs to us," says one character in the trailer.
The movie, which stars Hilary Swank and Betty Gilpin, was originally entitled "Red State vs. Blue State."
According to a plot synopsis, one of the hunted leads a fightback against the elites.
Trump was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007 for his reality show "The Apprentice."
He has come under a storm of criticism for his rhetoric on race, and in particular immigrants, which his opponents claim has fueled extremism.
In heavily Latino El Paso, Texas, a young white man shot and killed 22 people at a Walmart store last weekend. In a manifesto posted online before the attack, the shooter said he was fighting back against a "Hispanic invasion" of Texas.
"The Hunt," from Universal and horror specialists Blumhouse Productions, is due to be released September 27.
Universal did not immediately reply to request for comment.
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