How soon is too soon?

“Too soon!” went the outcry when the films United 93 and World Trade Center were released, some 5 years after the events they depicted.  Now – as Peter Bradshaw points out in today’s Guardian – filmmakers aren’t even waiting for the “dust to settle” on a news-story before moving-in with their cameras.  A production deal has already been inked for a Securitas heist movie, and a Madeline McCann film has been discussed.

There are positives and negatives to the approach.  We might welcome the immediate, first-hand qualities of a short time-lag film (for want of a better term).  Or we might prefer the perspective that a delayed film can bring to the table.  But there are other considerations.  Whether the film’s exploitative; its cinematic worth; and, most importantly, the feelings of any connected to the real-life events – surely all these factors, and more, will bear on whether a film’s “too soon”. 

So what are Coffee Housers’ opinions?  Have you ever thought a film was released too quickly after the event?  And how would you feel about, say, a Madeline McCann film being in cinemas next month?