California moviegoers were livid after the Brenden Theatre showed a trailer for an an R-rated animated movie, Sausage Party, before the start of the children’s film Finding Dory.
The star-studded Sausage Party is packed with adult language and scenes of violence, depictions Brenden Theatre officials called inappropriate for the young audience members who were waiting for PG-rated Finding Dory to begin.
“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,'” said Walter Eichinger, Brenden’s vice president of operations in a written statement. “The wrong movie was started by mistake.”
The incident reportedly occurred within days of the June 17 Finding Dory theatrical release. Eichinger promises it will not happen again.
“It was caught soon, but not until the trailer played,” he said, according to the East Bay Times. “We regret it, apologize for it, and we are not happy that it happened. We fully realize this trailer is not appropriate for ‘Dory’ and we would never schedule something like that. “The trailer for ‘Sausage Party’ is not and never has been scheduled with ‘Dory.”
Disney/Pixar’s Finding Dory has smashed box-office records, hauling in $135.1 million during its opening weekend, making it the highest opening for an animated film at the domestic box office. The film is the sequel to Finding Nemo, and follows a fish trying to find her long-lost parents.
Sausage Party hits theaters August 12, and tells the tale of a naïve group of groceries whose dream of being purchased quickly turns to a dark and deadly nightmare: the reality of being eaten.
Sausage Party stars Kristen Wiig, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Salma Hayek, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Edward Norton, and Bill Hader.
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