In response to recent movie theater shootings around the country, the nation’s largest theater chain is asking patrons to open their purses and backpacks.
Regal Entertainment Group told its more than 570 theaters around the country last week to search patrons’ bags before they can enter. It’s the country’s first large movie chain to implement a bag-searching policy, though 31-theater Showcase Cinemas in the Northeast instituted a similar policy earlier this month.
Regal’s corporate office didn’t respond to requests for comment. A statement on the company’s website says, “We acknowledge that this procedure can cause some inconvenience and that it is not without flaws, but hope these are minor in comparison to increased safety.”
There are a half-dozen Regal theaters in the Bay Area, stretching from Fairfield to San Francisco to Pleasanton.
Kyle Lim, the manager of Regal-owned Crow Canyon Cinema in San Ramon, said he showed up to work one day last week to find a sign saying all bags are subject to inspection. During the week, bags are checked at the front counter, while on busier weekends, they are inspected at each theater entrance.
He said the new policy has been smooth so far, with no one refusing to open up.
“That hasn’t happened yet,” he said, adding he’s not sure about standard operating procedure should a customer refuse. “I would have to call my general manager in that case.”
Whether more theaters enact similar policies remains to be seen. AMC Theaters, the country’s second-biggest theater chain, didn’t respond to a request for comment. Landmark Theatres, the country’s largest chain dedicated to showing independent and foreign films, declined to comment.
Meanwhile, movie theater patrons seem ready to embrace change. Nearly half of those surveyed said they would pay more to improve security measures at movie theaters, according to Variety, citing a study released earlier this month by research firm C4. The study also found only 9 percent said the recent attacks would impact how frequently they go to movie theaters.
Added security does not appear to be a deterrent, according to moviegoers who responded to a question posted on Facebook.
In fact, one responder said the measure doesn’t go far enough. Patricia Mitchell, of Oakland, pointed out that crowds at professional sporting events have to go through metal detectors.
“Checking bags is not enough,” Mitchell said. “Most people who carry guns do not carry them in a purse or bag. Guns are worn on the person. I think metal detectors should be added to movie theaters.”
Keri Moser Keller, of San Ramon, recalled being unable to enjoy a film because a fellow audience member — with his head covered by a hoodie — carried a bag sounding “heavy” and repeatedly left and returned to the theater.
“My friend and I were so nervous, we left the theater twice to alert management,” she said. “All they could do was walk in and out and keep an eye on him. The whole theater was visibly uncomfortable about his presence. On that particular day I would have welcomed a bag search.”
The move was prompted by recent events in Louisiana and Tennessee.
On July 23, 59-year-old John Russell Houser shot and killed two people and wounded nine more during a showing of Amy Schumer’s hit movie “Trainwreck” in Lafayette, Louisiana, before turning the gun on himself. Two weeks later, 29-year-old Vincente David Montano — armed with a hatchet, pellet gun and pepper spray — unloaded the latter at a theater audience in Antioch, Tennessee, before fleeing the scene and being shot dead by police. Both men reportedly had histories of mental illness.
James Holmes is facing life in prison for a 2012 rampage in which he killed 12 people and wounded 70 more during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado.
Contact Tony Hicks at Thicks@BayAreaNewsGroup.com, Facebook.com/BayAreaNewsGroup.TonyHicks or Twitter.com/tonyhicks67.
