Two theater chains won’t show film after near-riot in Hollywood
Two major theater chains have decided not to show the documentary “Electric Daisy Carnival Experience” in the wake of a near-riot outside the film’s Hollywood premiere earlier this week.
In canceling the screenings Friday, Regal and AMC theaters cited “the incident in Los Angeles.” Violence erupted after a popular DJ known as Kaskade, who was attending the invitation-only premiere, tweeted about a block party.
The Los Angeles Police Department had to be called in when some fans became unruly, throwing rocks and bottles and damaging three police cruisers. So far, three people have been arrested.
Photos: Rowdy crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival screening
Los Angeles police said they plan to scour the Internet for any videos that may surface showing the melee. Some videos found so far show people jumping on police cars and throwing objects, actions that could bring criminal prosecutions, officials said.
Police did the same thing after the mayhem that followed the Lakers’ victory in the 2010 NBA Finals.
Wednesday’s premiere of “Electric Daisy Carnival Experience” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was to be followed by a nationwide showing in theaters for only a single night: Aug. 4 at 9 o’clock local time.
The movie showcases the Electric Daisy Carnival, an all-night dance party, or rave, that has been held for 15 years across the country. Its largest gathering had long been at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but that ended in 2010 after a 15-year-old girl overdosed on Ecstasy, fell into a coma and died.
A spokeswoman for Insomniac Events Inc., which promoted the Electric Daisy Carnival, said Friday that the documentary would still be shown in theaters nationwide but expressed disappointment that Regal and AMC canceled their screenings based on a few troublemakers.
“It is extremely disheartening that some theaters wrongly associated an unaffiliated ‘block party,’ and its disorderly crowd, with the private screening of the film,” a statement from Insomniac reads. “The individuals who caused problems outside of our movie premiere were not the same audience, which wants to buy tickets to the film, just as the same people that cause disturbances after a sporting event do not represent all fans of that team.”
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