Iron Man 3 kicked off the summer movie blockbuster season with a huge opening weekend. One theater in Missouri decided, as many theaters do, to provide a little extra entertainment to die-hard moviegoers who showed up for opening night. Unfortunately, the theater’s management failed to realize that patrons might be a bit worried about fake guns in a movie theater given the Aurora, Colorado shooting that took place during the opening weekend of last year’s big super hero blockbuster, The Dark Knight Rises.

According to an Associated Press report, the Goodrich Capital 8 Theatres in Jefferson City, Missouri hired cosplayers to dress up as Marvel characters, including some dressed as members of S.H.I.E.L.D., the paramilitary organization tasked with combating superhuman threats in the Marvel universe. One of the costume-wearers was reported to have carried a prop assault rifle. Complaints were made, and the Jefferson City police were called.

The theater has now made a formal apology through its Facebook page. Capital 8 claims that the incident was not a publicity stunt, and that in the future it will “take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” The statement, in full:

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Capital 8 Theatres4 days ago

To our customers:

We apologize and are sympathetic to those who felt they were in harm’s way with our character promotion for Iron Man 3. This was not a publicity stunt. We have worked with the Cosplacon group on many movies to dress up and help entertain our customers. We have had many complaints about the members dressed specifically as S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives carrying fake guns. We didn’t clearly tell our customers and some people didn’t realize it was for entertainment purposes only. We apologize that police were called to come out to our theater. We have a wonderful working relationship with the Jefferson City Police Department. Going forward we will take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Security and safety for our customers is our number one priority.

Sincerely,

Capital 8, Goodrich Quality Theaters Powered by socialditto(image)  70 likes ·  237 comments

(Image courtesy Capital 8 Theatres Facebook page)