MOVIES - April 7, 1993

A Matter of Timing: “Extreme Justice,” a film about excessive force based on real-life stories from the Los Angeles Police Department, will not open in theaters April 30 as expected. Instead, the film will go directly to HBO in June. “Because of the very nature of the film there was a great concern here that perhaps this was an inappropriate time to be opening,” said David Bowers, a spokesman for distributor Trimark, referring to the soon-expected verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial. Bowers noted that heightened sensitivity in Los Angeles may have contributed to the film originally receiving an NC-17 rating from the L.A. ratings board. When that decision was appealed to the New York film board, the rating was lowered to an R.