Cinemas baulk at Bush death mockumentary

WASHINGTON - Two of America's largest cinema chains have announced they will not show Gabriel Range's controversial mock-documentary Death Of A President, which depicts the assassination of George W. Bush.

The film caused a sensation at its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival last month and aired on British television this week. It is slated for release in the United States at the end of this month and has been booked into about 100 screens.

None of those screens, though, will be owned by Regal Entertainment Group, the largest chain of cinemas in the US, or by Cinemark USA. Together, the two groups own almost 9000 screens across the country.

"We would not be inclined to programme this film," Regal's chief executive Mike Campbell told the Hollywood Reporter. "We feel it is inappropriate to portray the future assassination of a sitting President, regardless of political affiliation."

- INDEPENDENT