Brent Hallenbeck

Free Press Staff Writer

The Palace 9 Cinemas in South Burlington will start screening the controversial film "The Interview" on Dec. 31, owner Merrill Jarvis III said Tuesday.

He said he expects to show the comedy featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco four or five times a day starting New Year's Eve.

Jarvis had scheduled "The Interview" to start at Palace 9 on Christmas Day but decided to pull the movie just minutes before Sony Pictures yanked the film following threats tied to the dictatorial regime of North Korea. The plotline of "The Interview" centers on two men traveling to North Korea to assassinate the nation's leader, Kim Jong-un.

Jarvis said he rebooked "The Interview" following communication Tuesday with the distributor. He said he couldn't schedule the film before Dec. 31 because of other films he had committed to after canceling initial plans to show "The Interview."

He has no immediate plans to screen the film in the other two theaters he owns, Merrill's Roxy Cinema in Burlington and Majestic 10 in Williston.

Because of terrorist threats directed toward theaters that screen "The Interview," Jarvis said Palace 9 will prohibit customers from bringing in backpacks and will have extra security on hand.

"We want the safest environment possible for our customers," he told the Burlington Free Press.

Following Sony's decision to pull the film, outcry reaching as high as the White House criticized the company for capitulating to terrorism. Jarvis said he supports the idea of screening "The Interview" as a statement that the United States won't back down to threats.

"Nobody's ever told us what to do before," he said. "I don't think we should start now being censored by other countries. I'm sure a lot of other countries aren't happy with the films that we play, but we play them."

Sony announced Tuesday that it would release "The Interview" to select theaters across the country, though the number of screenings is expected to be far smaller than the original plan.

"I hope the movie's as good as the hype," Jarvis said.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.