AMC shies away from dirty joke

About “The Aristocrats,” it seems, AMC Theaters and ThinkFilm have agreed to disagree.

ThinkFilm President Jeff Sackman maintains that the theater chain agreed to show the unrated documentary about what is often described as “the dirtiest joke in the world” at venues in Atlanta and Chicago. AMC says no such deal was made.

“We were looking at playing the movie,” AMC spokeswoman Pam Blase acknowledged Wednesday. But she said the company decided that “The Aristocrats” had “limited audience appeal” and made a “business decision not to play this movie.”

“It’s their theaters. It’s their decision. I’d rather have them as a customer than not,” said Sackman, whose company is distributing “The Aristocrats.” “I hope they change their minds. This is words. This is Lenny Bruce. This is George Carlin 30 years ago.”

The film, which is scheduled to open July 29 in Los Angeles and New York, features a veritable who’s who of comedians either talking about the joke, the first time they heard it or telling their version of it. The joke typically involves descriptions of various sex acts.