Brawls broke out in Saint-Étienne and Charleville-Mézières, this Saturday, March 4, during screenings of the film Creed 3, leading to the cessation of sessions and the evacuation of rooms.
When dark rooms turn into boxing rings… Fights broke out in Saint-Étienne and Charleville-Mézières this Saturday March 4 during screenings of the film Creed 3, leading to the cessation of sessions and the evacuation of theaters , indicate the police and the cinema operator for one and the prosecution for the other. They are in addition to another fight the same day in Thionville (Moselle) after which the police proceeded to an arrest, according to a police source.
?\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Ivry-sur-Seine: a fight broke out in the hall of a cinema where #Creed3 had just aired. A woman “on the phone for the duration of the film” is said to be the source of tension. (Destination Cinema) #Pathe pic.twitter.com/7Iy1d7b8dG
– Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) March 3, 2023
Since the Wednesday release of the American film Creed 3, which takes place in the middle of boxing, several media have reported the intervention of the police in cinemas in France to put an end to clashes between young people, of which a video has especially circulating on social networks. In Saint-Étienne, Saturday afternoon, “among the more than 300 people present in the room, the police arrested about twenty of them, noting their identities before releasing them”, specified to AFP an official of the Megarama multiplex.
Evacuations, dispersals and arrests
“We were unable to restore calm. The intervention of the police was necessary to put an end to the fights with throwing bottles, one of which hit the head of one of our security guards,” said he added. In July 2021, the Saint-Etienne theater had experienced a similar precedent with the American film Fast & Furious 9. A projectionist operator had been “seriously” injured in the head while trying to restore calm, according to the same source. To date, “he still has not returned to work”.
In Charleville-Mézières, on Saturday evening, another brawl broke out in the Métropolis cinema, leading to the intervention of the police, the evacuation of the room and the interruption of the projection – which had not started. The police dispersed people who had left the scene who had gathered in front of the cinema to fight it out. The two people suspected of being at the origin of the brawl, “a 20-year-old man and a minor” were placed in police custody for “violence in meetings”, indicated Magali Josse, the prosecutor of Charleville-Mézières .
