Documentary directors tried to pull film over cinema chain’s treatment of victims of Aurora shooting, but were bound by their contract

Newtown, a documentary about the Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut, hsa been shown at Cinemark movie theatres despite its makers attempting to withdraw it.

Kim Snyder and Maria Cuomo Cole had attempted to block the chain from showing the film in solidarity with the victims of the Aurora cinema shooting in 2012, where James Holmes killed 12 people during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

Newtown review: film places focus on town stories over gun violence Read more

Cinemark attracted criticism for demanding more than $700,000 (£575,000) in legal fees from victims and their families, who had unsuccessfully sued it for not keeping its patrons safe. Colorado law allows the winning side in a court case to claim legal fees from the loser.

Cinemark argued that it could not have foreseen the attack and that no reasonable security measures would have stopped Holmes, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2015.

Cinemark’s attempt to reclaim court costs led to calls for a boycott, and led Snyder and Cole to attempt to withdraw their film from their theatres. They released a statement that said: “Out of respect for the families of the Aurora victims and with solidarity for the community as a whole, our decision to remove the film from playing in all Cinemark theatres is unequivocal.”

However, according to Deadline, the film-makers tried to negotiate with Cinemark but are beholden to their contract, meaning the screenings went ahead on 2 November. Tickets had been sold in advance and the film had been advertised for weeks.

Deadline reports that Snyder and Cole requested that Cinemark donate profits from the screenings to anti-gun violence charities and victims’ groups, but it had not been set up as a non-profit event.

The makers of Newtown declined to comment, while Cinemark did not respond to the Guardian’s request.