Mass confusion as hundreds turn up to see Black Panther

The blockbuster movie Black Panther is breaking box office records around the world and in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), it is no different.

The movie opened here on Thursday, February 22, with a private screening for medical students and over the weekend, beginning on Friday night, when it was opened to the general public, literally hundreds flocked to the Russell’s Cinema at Stoney Ground, creating pure bedlam.

Each viewing could accommodate only 204 persons, which created a logistical nightmare that saw management of the cinema seeking the assistance of the police in an effort to control the crowd.

On Saturday night, just prior to the 8 o’clock show, the crowd became so rowdy that management called in a squad of officers from the Rapid

Response Unit (Black Squad), who, according to management recommended that the cinema be shut in the interest of public safety.

Patrons who had already bought tickets for the cancelled show were offered two options – a refund, or return for the Sunday showing with Saturday’s tickets.

But, those who chose to return on Sunday with the ticket they had bought on Saturday assumed they would be allowed to enter freely, but this was not the case, as some turned up to a sold-out show again on Sunday and in instances, were again unable to see the movie.

On Monday, the cinema’s manager, Javien Rodgers, said that the weekend’s crowds were the biggest they have ever experienced and that had created a huge problem.

He said he has been managing the cinema for two years and in his opinion, it did not matter who was the manager, the same problems would have been encountered.

“People did not want to listen; they got to the point of shaking the ticket booth, trying to get tickets and we couldn’t control the crowd at that time. Even our guards couldn’t control the crowd,” stressed Rodgers.

He said in many instances, the queue lost its form and they didn’t know persons’ positions in the line.

“We stopped selling, so that persons could form a line, but that did not restore the order, as nobody was listening,” said Rodgers, who added that some persons had lined up for hours and left the queue for some reason or the other, then came back and wanted the space they had left.  

“…From the excessiveness of the crowd, the police tried their best, but they said that they can’t control the crowd, so we had to cancel the showing [on Saturday night]. It was a situation where public safety comes first, because it is a case where if a fire breaks out, persons would be trampled, so it was customer safety before income.”

He said they cannot sell more than 204 tickets for any show and they do not yet have a system in place where they can pre-sell tickets. Rodgers noted that the problem with pre-selling tickets is that if they sell an 8 p.m. ticket at 5 p.m., persons with an 8 p.m. ticket might try to enter the cinema at 5 p.m. and vice versa.

“Also, we don’t sell pre-sold tickets, because … persons would come without identification to collect tickets, so we try to avoid that.

“We are looking to all possible options, so that it could be done properly, so that we don’t have things like that happening in the future,” said Rodgers.

He said the cinema now has the Black Panther situation under control, and on Sunday, things went smoothly. But some patrons have complained that things were just as disorganized on Sunday, with those holding tickets having as much difficulty getting through the gates to see the show as those without tickets, as there was a single entrance with police limiting entry to 10 people at a time.

The movie was scheduled to be shown at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday evening and every day this week, and into next week.

“The movie is spectacular, it enhances black culture to a whole new level and the structure of the movie, the story is just spectacular and from all the customers that seen the movie, I have not got one bad report

that the movie is not what they expected,” said Rodgers.

He added, “We would continue until the crowd says no. We will continue until the crowd dies down.”

Rodgers said they have also done extended showings for movies like ‘Girls Trip’ and ‘Fast 8,’ but in his two years as manager, this is the biggest crowd ever, attracting over 1,600 people in one weekend.  

He said the cinema has learnt from its mistakes.

If the Black Panther craze keeps up its momentum, the movie will soon be the newest member of the $1 billion movie club. It has even dominated the local morning talk shows, with persons calling in to voice their opinions about the weekend’s mad rush.

With an all-star collection of majority black talent both in front of and behind the camera, Black Panther is more than a superhero movie; it acknowledges and celebrates everything from traditional African society to African-American political debates, from the power and beauty of black women to the preservation of identity, all within the lush confines of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. (LC)