Various movie theater chains in New York and Europe have taken initiative to shore up the security at their cinemas following the massacre during the Batman film's screening in Colorado.
- Jul 21, 2012
AceShowbiz - Following a massacre that happened during the midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Colorado, the security measures at movie theaters in New York and some other cities have been increased. The same action was also taken in European theaters to prevent same tragedy from happening again.
"As a precaution against copycats and to raise the comfort levels among movie patrons in the wake of the horrendous shooting in Colorado, the New York City Police Department is providing coverage at theaters where the 'The Dark Knight Rises' is playing in the five boroughs," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said in a statement.
On the other hand, The Hollywood Reporter has shared that European exhibitor, Cineworld, was increasing security measures across its 79 sites in the U.K., in which 76 were multiplex with five screens or more. "We were already going to increase security for this release, because it is going to be so popular anyway," a Cineworld insider revealed. "But we are working on this even more as a result of this tragedy."
German multiplex group, CinemaxX, has also planned to beef up security measures at its theaters, which consisted of 33 cinemas with 235 screens across Germany and Denmark. "We're devastated. We look at the movie theater as a wonderful place to relax, where people with a common interest in special content can be entertained," said a CinemaxX's representative.
"But the cause of such tragedies can't be found in the cinema. For the start of the film in Germany we will ensure our security personal are clearly present but we assume our audience, more than anything else, wants to be entertained by a fantastic film that many have been waiting for with great anticipation."
Another Scandinavian cinema chain, SF Kino, said that it's awaiting a steer from Warner Bros. Pictures. "The distributor will have to decide what, if anything, will follow," SF Kino head of programming Lars Fuglevik said. "From what I know at present, there will be no changes in response to the tragic news from Colorado in regards to the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises on Wednesday, July 25th."
ODEON/UCI, which was Europe's largest exhibitor, also released a statement. "ODEON take the safety and enjoyment of their guests very seriously and in light of the recent incident that took place in the States at a screening of The Dark Knight Rises yesterday evening, ODEON will be continuing their vigilant safety measures and further operational procedures will be introduced to ensure a safe and quality service," so it said.
Meanwhile, the premiere of the Batman movie in Mexico City and Tokyo were reportedly still undecided following the headline-grabbing tragedy. An insider revealed to E! News that the premiere events in both big cities would likely not take place as scheduled.
As reported previously, a young man named James Holmes was arrested after opening fire during a "Dark Knight Rises" midnight screening at an Aurora, Co. theater on Friday, July 20 morning.12 were killed, while 58 others were wounded during the tragedy.
