British exhibitor Cineworld has canceled several showings of the gang-themed film “Blue Story” in northern England after a stabbing at one of its theaters Sunday evening.
The movie, about two friends who become embroiled in violence between South London gangs, has been in the headlines since Vue, the U.K.’s third-largest theater chain, removed it from its screens for nearly a week before reinstating it over the weekend. Vue pulled “Blue Story” after what it said were multiple incidents of tension or conflict at screenings, the biggest of which was a mass brawl involving about 100 people at an entertainment center in Birmingham, England.
The smaller Showcase chain also removed and then reinstated the picture.
Cineworld’s withdrawal of the movie from its site inside the Cornerhouse complex in the city of Nottingham is thought to be temporary. The removal followed an incident in which a 20-year-old man needed hospital treatment for what were described as non life-threatening injuries in a stabbing. Local reports said arrests were made following the incident, which occurred during “Blue Story’s” end credits.
Cineworld is thought to have canceled some screening as the authorities investigated. It did not respond to a request for comment.
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The film was written and directed by the YouTube star Rapman, whose real name is Andrew Onwubolu. He had sharply criticized Vue’s decision to pull the movie and demanded the company show proof that the roughly 25 “significant incidents” it had cited were actually related to “Blue Story.”
Having been put back on Vue screens, the film held firm at the box office. It pulled in £1.3 million ($1.7 million) in its first week and is now at £2.9 million. Paramount distributes the film in the U.K. It and BBC Films, another of the picture’s backers, both publicly supported the movie as it made headlines last week.