Thinking of heading to downtown St. Pete to check out Straight Outta Compton, the NWA biopic, this weekend?Looks like you're outta luck.
When we saw an unconfirmed rumor on social media that the film might not screen at Muvico Sundial, we had to check it out.
Muvico Sundial's parent company, Carmike Cinemas, hasn't returned our calls yet, but a spokesperson at the downtown St. Pete theater confirmed that to be the case, but could not elaborate on why.
What we do know is the company is not screening the film depicting the highly influential group's story at its Muvico Sundial location or at a cinema complex in Bradenton.
In St. Pete's case, we are going to make an educated guess on why they're going to pass on what will probably be a lot of revenue. It probably has to do with the history there.
In the large retail complex's previous incarnation, Baywalk, the complex was often packed with (largely black) youth, and a few times violence broke out.
But be that as it may, not showing the R-rated film is probably a bad idea.
For one it sends a very bad, if unintended, message about who is welcome at the facility, and reluctance to screen the film, if indeed for security concerns, seems to perpetuate the culture of distrust that underlies the racial tensions we're trying to eradicate.
At a time with such heightened awareness of such tensions, this will probably exacerbate the problem.
It also shows an ignorance of what the film is about and what it aims to impart on the audience.
The film is expected to draw $40 million this weekend, which is a lot and would obviously help the theater pay its bills (we've seen big-budget films there on Friday nights in very sparsely populated auditoriums).
It's a movie everyone is talking about, one that's likely to draw a diverse audience of moviegoers (all of them old enough to be admitted to an R-rated movie, mind you) who care about music, culture and NWA's groundbreaking influence within those.
If Carmike doesn't change its mind, don't worry. You can catch the film at multiple other theaters throughout the Tampa Bay area. If the company does change its mind, we'll let you know.