Movie theater misscreenings

Movie theater misscreenings are events or incidents where certain movie theaters are meant to screen an intended movie but end up accidentally screening the wrong movie instead.

Notable incidents

Saw 3D/Megamind

In 2010, in Showcase Cinemas in Revere, Massachusetts, parents thought they were taking their children to go see the animated movie Megamind. They thought wrong. Instead of showing a 3D family film, the theater accidentally started playing an R-rated horror film titled Saw 3D instead. Parents got nervous when the previews seemed a bit “advanced” for children. Once the theater realized their mistake, the children were told to cover their eyes during the horrific scenes of violence onscreen while they dealt with the problem. To make up for their mistake, the movie theater gave the children one free ticket each.

Paranormal Activity 4/Madagascar 3

In October of 2012, during a scheduled showing of the Ben Stiller– and Chris Rock-voiced animation, viewers were instead shown the newly released horror film Paranormal Activity 4 at Nottingham’s Cineworld. According to Yahoo! Movies UK, parents rushed their children from the theater following a shocking opening scene that features a bloody female corpse being thrown at the camera – a throwback from the series’ first film. One mother stated that everybody (both the children and parents) scrambled for the exits, to which she stared "All you could hear were children crying and screaming." A spokesperson for the theater said that all customers were offered refunds and complimentary tickets for the gaffe. "We have investigated the incident and can confirm that this was a technical error with the projector and apologize sincerely to the families," a statement read. Moviegoers were also invited to a follow-up screening of Madagascar 3 a half hour after the incident. The statement continued with the fact that the theater takes these matters "very seriously" and is currently working with technicians to ensure this does not occur again.

Rise of the Guardians/Guardians of the Galaxy

Fans eager to see Guardians of the Galaxy got a disappointing surprise at Regal Cinemas in the US this week. The debut-seeking crowd watched in horror as the screen before them played the open scene not of the bad-ass comic-based movie, but of 2012's Dreamworks kids flick, Rise of the Guardians. Not the same!

According to irate tweeters, the mix-up at the Virginia theatre didn’t just happen once: after management figured out the mistake, audiences sat through a second round of previews, followed by the wrong Guardians flick, followed by a third mixed-up movie. Yeesh.

For those unfamiliar with the difference between the two (a group which includes the projectionists employed by at least one Regal Cinema), Guardians of the Galaxy is a hilarious, action-packed flick that debuted on 1 August. Rise of the Guardians is a PG-rated kids’ animated movie from 2012. It earned a 74 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes! But it’s not the debut movie that theatre-goers were looking for, though they were subjected to it three times in a row.

Hollywood Reporter says that Virginia wasn’t the only place where theatres made the mix-up — tweeters in New Jersey also reported unintended screenings of Rise. CinemaBlend theorizes that the theatres where the mix-ups occurred had labeled the 2012 movie simply as Guardians and played it at kiddie matinees, leading projectionists to mistakenly cue up the animated flick for opening night crowds.

Of course, the cinemas that subjected ticket-buyers to the wrong movie offered seats at later screenings or replacement tickets to different showings. And Regal Cinemas tweeted a cheeky yet sincere apology to one theatre-goer.

Finding Dory/Sausage Party

Around mid-2016, when Finding Dory and other films were released, the Sausage Party trailer, which contained sexual content and gore, in the form of a CGI animated film, was accidentally shown in a Brenden theater in Concord, California during a screening of Finding Dory and it was met with widespread negative reactions from audiences due to content that was considered both terrifying and inappropriate for younger audiences, as well as the fact it could easily be mistaken for a family-friendly film since it's an all-CGI feature film.

Following the incident, Brenden Vice President of Operations Walter Eichinger apologized, stating that the camera operator clicked on the wrong movie trailer since the theater was moving screens around to accommodate large, unexpected, last-minute groups of people wanting to see Finding Dory.

The Curse of La Llorona/Pokémon Detective Pikachu

In 2019, the trouble began early when the trailers started. Instead of a kid-friendly teaser for a film about cute stuffed toys, children were subjected to snippets from Annabelle Comes Home - a supernatural horror film starring an evil doll. It was at this point that George reported children started crying. But this was only the beginning of their terror. The kids were forced to endure trailers for the Joker and the Child's Play remake. After sitting through this psychologically damaging experience, the children might have expected the horror to be over. They were wrong. It shows The Curse of La Llorona at the movie theatre instead of showing Pokémon Detective Pikachu. Notoriously, it opens with a scene of a mother drowning her child. It was only at this point that the theatre realized the monumental mistake and turned the film off. The group was then moved into another room where Detective Pikachu was paused on the screen. It is believed two audiences might have accidentally is-seated - and a group of horror fans was forced to sit through trailers for kid's movies.

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