A theatre chain in California has issued a public apology after one of its California cinemas played the trailer for the R-rated film “Sausage Party” before a showing of the Pixar film “Finding Dory.”
Walter Eichinger, vice-president of operations for Brenden Theatre Corporation, apologized for the mix-up and says it was an honest mistake on the part of the theatre in Concord earlier this month.
“We fully realize this trailer is not appropriate for ‘Dory’ and we would never schedule something like that,” Eichinger said in his statement.
The R-rated “Sausage Party” is a 3D animated film in a similar vein (visually, at least) to “Finding Dory.” A spoof of Pixar and Disney animated films, the movie stars Canadian Seth Rogan and is about sentient grocery store items that learn, to their horror, that they are to be eaten upon being “freed” from the confines of the store.
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As seen in the trailer above, the R-rated spoof features several scenes that may be disturbing to the family audience that would normally be watching “Finding Dory.”
“Playing that trailer was a one-time honest mistake by a theater manager moving screens around in effort to accommodate several large last-minute groups wanting to see Dory,” Eichinger said. “The wrong movie was started by mistake. It was caught soon, but not until the trailer played.”
The apology even reached “Sausage Party” star Seth Rogan, who jokingly said the screening mix-up “made his day.”
“We regret it, apologize for it, and we are not happy that it happened,” Eichinger said. “The trailer for Sausage Party is not and never has been scheduled with Dory.”
Meanwhile, “Finding Dory” continues to make huge waves at the box office. For the second straight week, the sequel to Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” was the top movie at the domestic box office, taking in $73.2 million.