MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection
Creed IIIMichael B Jordan’s immersive fight scenes have spilled over to audiences in France and Germany, with reports of fights at several Michael B Jordan screenings. Rocky spin-off during its opening week, starting March 1.
French media reported a dozen separate disruptions at cinemas in France over the weekend and a handful of independent theaters decided to pull the film from their schedules.
Police were called on Saturday March 4 for a screening at a Megarama cinema in the town of Saint-Etienne, central France, after fighting broke out and a security guard suffered head injuries when cans and bottles started flying.
Later in the day, police forced 500 people to evacuate a Kinepolis cinema in the northeastern French town of Thionville after a mass fight broke out leading to the cancellation of the screening. Footage of the disruption has gone viral.
Contacted by Deadlinethe theater said it did not wish to comment.
In other incidents, a screening at the Metropolis cinema in Charleville-Mézières, in the north of the country, was also abandoned after two individuals began to fight. They were arrested and placed in provisional custody.
Creed III is still on the program of the three cinemas.
Announcement of the CineCentre on the website
However, the nine-screen CinéCentre complex in the northern town of Dreux announced on its website on Monday that it was canceling the film following “inappropriate behavior” contrary to its “values”.
Similar incidents were also reported in Germany, with screenings in the cities of Bremen, Hamburg and Essen canceled after police were called in to calm the situation when fighting broke out.
German media have speculated whether the fights and associated anti-social behavior could be due to some kind of social media campaign or defiance, but that doesn’t appear to be the case, even though footage of some of the incidents has gone viral .
French exhibition professionals contacted by Deadline were wary of speaking publicly about fights, saying additional media coverage could encourage copycat acts.
A source pushed back on a suggestion that the incidents were “a phenomenon” noting that 600 cinemas were showing the film in France to more than 10,000 showings in its first five days of release.
The troubles were isolated incidents, they said.
France delivered Creed III its biggest opening weekend in Europe, grossing $7.7 million, followed by $6.1 million in the UK, $4.3 million in Germany and $3.5 million dollars in Italy in what turned out to be a record international opening for the franchise.
Deadline has reached out to Warner Bros., which handles international release except in the Nordics, to comment on the discontinued screenings.