Sorry, no Jokering around!
Theaters ban costumes at flick
The city will be filled with costumed crusaders for New York Comic Con next week — but superhero wannabes will have to remove their masks at screenings of the “Joker” film.
Many movie houses in the city and elsewhere are banning people from attending showings of the dark Joaquin Phoenix flick in face paint or masks amid fear of mass shootings.
AMC and Landmark Theatres confirmed that anyone dressed as the “Batman” villain would be turned away from the film, which opens Oct. 4.
That will be the second day of the Comic Con at the Jacob Javits Center, which draws thousands of fans to the city, many in costume.
While Regal refused to comment on security measures, staff at some of the theater chain’s New York cinemas told The Post masks and face paint would be banned, with extra security on hand.
Some theaters cited the July 2012 Aurora, Colo., massacre in which gunman James Holmes killed 12 people and wounded 70 at a showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.”
The upscale IPIC Fulton Market theater near the South Street Seaport said it would be “taking extra precautions ... because of the mass shootings.”
“Nothing has been finalized yet, but probably there will be extra security, no masks or painted faces, no long coats, big bags will be checked,” said staffer Savasia Garrett.
Regal UA Court Street & RPX in Brooklyn Heights will deploy three guards on opening night instead of the usual two, said worker Aysha Nieve.
Bags will be checked and no one with a mask or face paint will be admitted, she added.
And during the movie, ushers will be “making sure everyone is behaving appropriately,” Nieve said.
“Every day you should worry about shootings,” she said. “That’s why we take the measures we take.”
The FBI has reported online threats by “incel” extremists, who idolize the angry-loner anti-hero of “Joker.”
The NYPD said that it had not put special security in place as it had not received any specific, credible threats, but added that it would monitor the situation.
Regal told TheWrap.com that “patron and employee safety is our foremost concern.”
Warner Bros., the film’s distributor, said “Joker” was meant to “provoke difficult conversations,” but that it was not “an endorsement of realworld violence of any kind.”