Booking Films: A Thorny Issue for Theaters : Movies: Exhibitors cite safety concerns for refusing to show some films, but critics say the move appears racist.

Just because a movie is about gangs, drugs or inner-city youths, does that mean it will inspire violence at theaters?

After a series of such incidents over the years, it’s a question that many in the film community have pondered privately. There is concern about the spillover impact that violence can also have: keeping customers away.

Such concerns occasionally surface--as they did recently when the Cineplex Odeon Corp. decided to delay the opening of “Poetic Justice” at its high-profile Universal City Cinemas complex. The movie is about two young inner-city African-Americans who fall in love--the first film from writer-director John Singleton since his much-admired debut “Boyz N the Hood.”

When “Poetic Justice” did not open at Universal City on July 20, Cineplex said the reason was fear for the safety of its customers. Only two summers ago, on the opening night of “Boyz N the Hood”--a film about a young man’s attempt to steer clear of inner-city gangs--three people were shot inside one of the Universal City Cinemas’ theaters. Additionally, there were other scattered incidents across the country.

The 1991 violence surrounding the opening of “Boyz” came only months after a riot in the Westwood district of Los Angeles on the opening night of “New Jack City,” a story about the rise and fall of a Harlem drug lord. In that incident, a melee occurred after the theater was sold out for the evening and no one informed the crowd, which had waited for hours. The incident, which involved hundreds of youths, resulted in vandalism and looting. Again, similar incidents were reported nationally.

Security concerns were among the reasons that led New Line Cinema to use a slow release pattern for “Menace II Society,” a recent film that takes an uncompromising, grim look at inner-city life. At its peak, “Menace” was playing on about 600 screens--a small release by major studio standards. The movie did not open in Westwood or at Universal. The Universal Studios complex also recently chose not to screen the African-American Western “Posse,” which drew harsh criticism from the film’s director, Mario Van Peebles.

While Cineplex cited safety for its “Poetic Justice” decision, others, including the Los Angeles City Council, said it appeared racist. The council passed a unanimous resolution condemning the move and said the theater’s actions sent the wrong message to the community at a time when healing is needed.

Cineplex chairman Allen Karp said he was “astonished” by the criticism from the City Council. “It would appear they are not aware of all the facts.” Although “Poetic Justice” eventually opened six days later at the 18-theater complex, the situation was widely viewed as a public relations fiasco for Cineplex. And it was proof, if any was needed, why the issue is so thorny for the industry.

Generally, exhibitors believe each film and each theater where a movie plays has to be considered individually. There is ample proof that theaters can be stigmatized with a bad rap and business can fall off after troubling incidents. It has been the case with Westwood district theaters after a series of riots, and it was the case in the months after the “Boyz”-related violence at Universal City Cinemas.

“Exhibitors are generally color-blind. They play the films based on their potential for box-office success,” said Steve Gilula, president of the Samuel Goldwyn Co.’s Landmark Theaters circuit. “They also look to see if there is a security issue to be dealt with.”

“There’s potential for trouble with any movie that attracts mainly a young crowd,” said East Coast-based Loews Theatres co-chairman Barrie Loeks. “It’s the same as at any nightclub, sports event or concert. . . . problems can occur. If you look at the number of moviegoers and the number of incidents, it’s very rare that anything happens.”

Columbia Pictures, which distributed “Boyz” and “Poetic Justice,” initially reported it was not aware of any disturbances or violence connected to “Poetic Justice.”

But shortly after the opening weekend, at least five reports of trouble came to light, including one in which a 21-year-old man was found shot to death in the parking lot of the Syufy Cinedome in Las Vegas after the final showing of “Poetic Justice” on its opening night. A disturbance at a mall in Joliet, Ill., where the film was showing, and a non-fatal shooting of a 19-year-old white male as he was exiting the theater in Knoxville, Tenn., caused exhibitors in both cities to curtail nighttime showings of the movie. A fistfight was reported during a showing at a Cineplex Odeon’s theater in Chicago.

Enough of these incidents over the years have made theater operators wary, even though the number that have occurred is relatively small, compared to the sometimes 1,000 to 2,000 locations where a movie might be playing. Among the concerns is that in multiplex theaters, violence can harm business for other movies at the same site.

Some said the Universal City Cinemas’ situation with “Poetic Justice” may only have come to light because of the way Cineplex officials initially responded to questions--saying that the company sought to preserve an “upscale” environment at the complex. Privately, some express the sentiment that similar booking decisions are more the rule than the exception.

“It’s always easy to criticize a chain like Cineplex,” said one Los Angeles-based movie booker. “But if three or four people had been shot, people would wonder why the company booked the movie in the first place.”

The individual, who spoke candidly, but who did not wish to be identified, said that “unfortunately, some theaters have had a problem with black films. Cineplex and owner Universal were simply protecting their investment,” which includes the studio, the studio tour and the newly opened CityWalk complex of shops and restaurants. The Universal City Cinemas complex, with 6,000 seats, is the largest single complex in the nation, and consistently produces the biggest overall grosses.

“I understand (Cineplex’s) safety concerns,” said Nelson Bennett, the senior vice president of Inner City Cinemas, the nation’s only black-owned first-run exhibition company, which operates nine screens at two complexes in Southwest Los Angeles. But Bennett said he was “disappointed about the chain’s ethnic insensitivity. ‘Poetic Justice’ wasn’t about gangs. What about the movie made them skittish?

“They played ‘What’s Love Got to Do With It’ when it first opened,” he said, referring to the Tina Turner biography. “Then they say they will open ‘Poetic Justice’ six days after opening night. What’s to keep you from fearing what will happen on opening night won’t happen on the sixth?”

In the case of “Poetic Justice,” Columbia offered to offset the costs of additional security officers at theaters where there were safety concerns. Bennett said his theaters took advantage of that offer and had “no qualms” about showing “Poetic Justice.”

“It falls on the exhibitors to create an environment to help a patron feel secure and entertained,” Bennett said. “When you fail to book a movie just because it draws a certain demographic, and you say, ‘I think there’s going to be trouble,’ that promotes the air of discomfort that you want to avoid.”

“Things can happen at movie theaters playing ‘Gone With the Wind’ ” was the wry observation of Tom Sherak, executive vice president of 20th Century Fox, in response to a question about safety concerns.

“I believe the charges of racism are wrong because they never said they were not going to play it,” Sherak said. “What they did was delay the opening.”

Sherak noted a commonly held belief in the industry that violence usually takes place on opening night. However, there is no data available that quantifies violence at movie theaters nationally, what form it takes or when it occurs.

Doug McHenry, one of the producers of “New Jack City,” suggested on a panel session a year ago that the industry consider Wednesday openings for certain types of films. He said midweek openings could reduce the demand for tickets and defuse the tension that sparked the Westwood melee.

Theater operators have an unwritten agreement with the studios to play the films they produce, said Greg Rutkowski, the vice president of West Coast operations for the national AMC Theater circuit.

“But we still have to make our own judgments. There has to be a sensitivity about what will play and what could be volatile in the marketplace.” He added: “When you perceive there might be a problem environment, then you hire the appropriate security.”