An Iraq vet named James Cialella shot a man named Wofford Lomax Jr. for talking too loud during a screening of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) at a South Philadelphia movie theater on December 25, 2008. Lomax, who was with his family, survived; popcorn was also thrown at the victim’s son. The news spooked the film’s director David Fincher. When a cell phone went off loudly during a New York discussion of the film, he said, “Thank God it isn’t Philadelphia…Some dude got shot for talking… I don’t advocate that.” A judge tossed out attempted murder charges for Cialella in early January 2009, but Cialella pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and “possessing an instrument of crime.”
Violence off the Screen: Other Movie Theater Attacks
After a gunman killed at least 12 people during a midnight screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' in Aurora, Colo., a look at some other recent acts of movie theater violence.
Man Shot For Loud Talking at Benjamin Button
Full List
movieviolence
- Black Swan Audience Member Shot for Eating Popcorn Too Loudly
- Security Guard Stabs Teen after My Bloody Valentine 3D Screening
- Suicide during The Watchmen
- Shootout Erupts at Notorious Screening
- Two Men Stabbed Before Stabbing Scene in The Signal
- Man Shot For Loud Talking at Benjamin Button
- Mentally Ill Man Kills One at X-Men 3: The Last Stand Screening
- Gang Film The Warriors Sparks Violence