Fans who packed an Atlanta theater Thursday night for an early screening of “Black Panther” got more action than they bargained for. The theater accidentally played the erotic romance movie “Fifty Shades Freed.”
Fans who packed an Atlanta theater Thursday night for an early screening of “Black Panther” got more action than they bargained for.
The theater accidentally played the erotic romance movie “Fifty Shades Freed” during a sold-out show at Atlanta’s Regal Atlantic Station. The mix up lasted nearly 10 minutes.
Some in the theater took to Twitter to express anger and dismay, while others saw humor in the fact that the two movies are intended for vastly different audiences. At least one fan said he suspected something was wrong when the trailers before the movie included one for “Mama Mia 2.”
“I never laughed so hard. I’m glad I came to the black theater,” tweeted by audience member who goes by the name Chef Steve. “It was insane.”
“So they started to play 50 shades instead of ‘Black Panther’ in my theater today,” tweeted audience member Slim Hardaway Jr. “I’m 5 months removed from ACL surgery and I sprinted through the theater to get that turned off so damn fast.”
He added in a later tweet that “Regal almost had a riot on their hands.”
Two videos were tweeted by Chef Steve from the theater and they showed the crowd laughing and booing at a “Fifty Shades” wedding scene. The video had been viewed 135,000 times on Friday.
“The two films couldn’t be any more different,” wrote ScreenRant.com in a story on the mix up. “While (“Fifty Shades Freed”) is the final chapter in the romantic/erotic trilogy inspired by a series of novels, (“Black Panther”) is a superhero film from Marvel Studios that follows T’Challa as he formally becomes the king and protector of Wakanda… Fortunately, people at the theater didn’t take the mistake too seriously.”
Box Office Mojo is reporting “ Black Panther “ brought in $25.2 million from Thursday night previews.
