Theater chains in Spain and Italy have banned masks and toy guns from Joker screenings, eliciting a range of responses from spectators on social media.
The Cinesa chain in Spain put out an announcement on its website, via the ticket sales page for the film, which opened Friday across the region. A similar announcement was made Thursday via Facebook by Cinesa sister company in Italy, UCI, also a part of the Odeon Cinemas group, without mentioning the film by name.
The statement asked that viewers not bring masks, toy guns or other weapon simulators or face covers into theaters “for security reasons” and added that the items could be stored with theater personnel during screenings.
“This measure seeks to guarantee the safety of all visitors to our cinemas,” the statement added.
It was not immediately clear if other cinemas in the Odeon group in Germany, the U.K., Ireland, Scandinavia and the Baltic states were taking similar measures.
Source: Theater Chains in Europe Ban Masks, Toy Weapons at ‘Joker’ Screenings | Hollywood Reporter