FIRST OFF . . .

Police arrested two South Korean film directors and a snake seller in Seoul on Monday for releasing snakes into movie theaters showing American films. A police spokesman said directors Chung Ji-yong and Chung Hwoe-yong were charged with paying a Seoul snake seller nearly $10,000 to release 14 nonpoisonous snakes in two theaters in the capital last year to scare audiences away from “Fatal Attraction,” distributed by Universal International Pictures. The snake scare was one of the most graphic of a series of attempts to keep South Koreans from seeing films distributed by foreigners. The police said the directors belonged to an organization that has staged protests against direct distribution of U.S. films. Last month, attackers threw gas bombs into an empty Seoul theater where the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” was being shown. The bombs set chairs on fire and caused damage estimated at $15,000.