The Dunbar Theatre, Sony, the VPD, and the ongoing madness of The Interview

The Dunbar Theatre has pipped the Rio as the first cinema in Vancouver to screen Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s grave international incident stoner comedy The Interview. The movie debuts tonight at 9:50, continuing daily at the same time through till Wednesday (January 14).

Over on the east side of town, The Interview begins its Rio run tomorrow (January 10).

The Straight had originally planned to announce the Dunbar screening in this week’s print issue, up until we received a blunt email from Dunbar Theatre owner Ken Charko saying that the film had been pulled. This is S.O.P. in the increasingly strange world of The Interview.

As of yesterday, however, the Dunbar theatrical run was back on, prompting us to wonder: what in the name of sweet Pyongyang is going on here?

“I never pulled it,” said an amused-sounding Charko, in a brief call to the Straight. “Everything ebbs and flows but I think, at the end of the day, that bad luck just follows certain things, and that’s just what it is.”

Charko went on to explain that miscommunication between the Dunbar and Sony Pictures over the terms of the film’s booking put the kibosh on his original plans.

“There isn’t any conspiracy theory here, it’s just an honest mistake,” he said. “But I have it now and I’m going to play it. I said back in November that I always would play it, but I think this film has just been difficult for Sony every step of the way.”

One might speculate that Sony and its compromised IT infrastructure is just being very, very prudent with any business it does around the film. Equally prudent is Charko, who contacted the VPD to let them know that a movie with an attendant (if admittedly very distant) 9/11-like threat would be screening inside their turf.

"I was looking for advice, because they’re the professionals. This is the advice they gave us: ‘Call 311 and ask to speak to the media department of the City of Vancouver.’ That’s what I’m supposed to do,“ said the bemused exhibitor, adding, with a chuckle: "It's moronic." 

The Straight, meanwhile, promises to be within reasonably safe proximity of the Dunbar this evening in the event of an attack by the Guardians of Peace.