Three helicopters make a flyover of the Century Theater on Saturday, July 21, 2012 in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed and dozenswere injured in the attack early Friday at the packed theater during a showing of the Batman movie, "Dark Knight Rises." Police have identified the suspected shooter as James Holmes, 24. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)
July 21, 2012 - 4:16 PM
TORONTO - Thursday's shooting at a Batman premiere in Colorado doesn't seem to have made Canadian moviegoers jittery about catching a movie this weekend.
"You just hear a bang, you duck. This kind of stuff can happen anywhere in the world," said Byron Mann, who was planning to see The Dark Knight Rises on Saturday night.
"The important thing is to prevent it from happening more. We just need to have stricter gun controls."
Moviegoers had eagerly anticipated the opening night of The Dark Knight Rises before the shooting that broke out at a late-night premiere at an Aurora, Colo. theatre, leaving 12 dead and 58 wounded.
The film was expected to churn out high earnings over its first weekend in theatres, but revenue reports have been delayed until Monday.
Sony, Fox, Disney, Universal and Lionsgate said Saturday that they are joining "Dark Knight Rises'' distributor Warner Bros. in withholding their box-office numbers for the weekend out of respect for the victims and their families.
But workers at a theatre in downtown Toronto said there was a packed house Friday night and that The Dark Knight Rises was sold out.
Many moviegoers in Toronto said they see the Colorado theatre shooting as a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"It seems like a pretty isolated event," said Gavin Whelehan, who was planning to see Dark Knight Rises Saturday afternoon. "I actually did try to come yesterday (Friday) but it was soldout, so I'm back."
Whelehan was one of the lucky ones who was able to get a ticket for the showtime he wanted.
"In all probability it's not going to repeat itself," said Jerome Poonting, who settled for another movie when he learned Batman was sold out. "I feel pretty safe and comfortable coming to a movie theatre, at least in Canada."
Others were more concerned about the shootings taking place in public places.
"There's less and less safe places to go just as a civilian," said Madeleine Adam. "I think it's quite outrageous that just innocent people can't even go and enjoy themselves at a movie theatre."
Officers in three downtown Toronto divisions said that there has been no increased police presence at local theatres today.
"While we believe this was an isolated incident, we have security measures in place for our upcoming shows," said a Cineplex Entertainment spokesperson who declined to comment further.
With files from the Associated Press.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012