ltmurnau | Least Surprising News Story of the Week

I first heard of this from

angel_electric's report on the Toronto Film Festival.

Recall also how CBS was so easily cowed into pulling its miniseries about the Reagans off the air in 2003: http://ltmurnau.livejournal.com/21487.html

Some U.S. cinemas balk at showing Death of a President
Last Updated: Friday, October 6, 2006 | 1:19 PM ET
CBC Arts

Some major U.S. cinema chains are refusing to play the film Death of a President, which depicts the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush.

The film, which won the international critics' prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, mixes real news footage of the president with dramatized segments to tell the story.

The film has been controversial since its subject matter has been known and director Gabriel Range reported getting death threats.

Now cinema chains in the U.S. are balking at releasing it.

"We would not be inclined to program this film," Regal Entertainment Group chief executive Mike Campbell said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

"We feel it is inappropriate to portray the future assassination of a sitting president, regardless of political affiliation."

Texas-based Cinemark USA and its unit Century Theaters, which has cinemas in northern California, have also refused to book the film.

Boston-based National Amusements is still in negotiations over whether to release it.

Newmarket Films of Los Angeles bought rights to distribute the film at TIFF and plans to open it Oct. 27, ahead of the U.S. congressional election Nov. 7.

Range says the film is meant to provoke debate on today's U.S. political climate.

The fictional Bush assassination occurs in Chicago in 2007 against a background of anti-war protests, and Range depicts a xenophobic rush to judgment as an American of Middle Eastern descent is accused of the crime.

Range said he could have told the same story with a fictional president who looks or acts like Bush, but feared it would not have the same impact.

Newmarket co-founder Chris Ball agrees the film is controversial, but says it's a compelling political thriller.

"In many ways it is sympathetic to George Bush. It talks about a rush to judgment. In no way is it a call for violence," Ball said.

The film has an R rating, which will keep away some movie-goers.

But Newmarket distribution consultant Richard Abramowitz insists it will open widely in the U.S. with at least 700 screens booked for Oct. 27.

"We're getting a good reception in a lot of places. No matter how tight the screens are, once a film has success, it's always easier to get more screens," he said.

Politically controversial films such as Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth have done well in the U.S. in the past.

Death of a President was a hit with audiences as well as a critics' favourite at TIFF, with crowds lining up to see it.