Posted on 06/01/2004 6:38:01 PM PDT by doug from upland
LONDON (AP) - No, they are not Lord Voldemort's Death Eaters - but they sure could give you a scare.
Ushers at British cinemas showing the new Harry Potter film have been issued military-style night vision goggles to thwart cinema pirates. Vue Cinemas said Monday its staff will spend all two hours and 22 minutes of the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban scanning the theatres in an effort to uncover anyone trying to secretly record the film.
Warner Brothers distributed the goggles to Vue cinemas around Britain along with copies of the film. The company is determined to fight back after a deluge of poor quality copies of the first two Harry Potter movies hit the black market.
"It is an incredible response and makes you realize why the distributors are so keen to protect the film from pirates," said Jamie Graham, who manages a Vue complex in Ellesmere, central England. "I have been working in the cinema industry for 10 years and I have never heard of anything like this before."
Graham said his theatre had sold 6,500 tickets before 9 a.m. for screenings of the movie, which opened Monday in Britain.
"Our ushers are using the goggles in every screening to check nobody is making any illegal recordings," he said. "If anybody is caught, then they will be reported to the police."
The popularity of the Harry Potter movie franchise shows little sign of dwindling, with hundreds of fans turning out for the premiere of the new film Sunday night in London's Leicester Square.
The movie opens in North America later this week.
I was wondering if the cheapie Russkie NODs were any good.
I guess if there is a need, an entrepreneur will find a way. That is a shame for the people who actually created the work and are getting ripped off.
Bring back the drive ins!
I missed the last half hour of Empire Strikes Back because I had to go out and nurse my fussing 7 month old son Had to wait til a few weeks later to hear "Luke, I am your father"!
Check out this thread! Did your friend attend the premiere?
I know where that's at. My grandfather lived in McKinleyville. We'd go camping at Patrick's Point and Jedediah Smith.
Wow, cool!
Yeah, she did. She said it was really, really good. You going?
The cheezy gen-1 scope I have would blind you if you took it into a movie theater.
PLEASE tell me where you've heard this about book 6. None of the fansites I've seen have had this?
I used an old pair of Military NOD at the beach one night while fishing.
There was another group fishing about 150 yards away with only a pair of 2" glow sticks on the tips of their rods as a light source. Those glow sticks looked like lanterns when viewing through the NOD.
I saw a sneak preview last week where all people entering the theater were checked with metal detectors and had bags checked. Guards said it was to keep out video cameras.
As a member of the audience... I have to ask. Why would you bring an infant to the movies?
Yep...the pirated movies hit the streets of Baghdad at about the same time they hit the streets of New York or London. Our local suppliers can get them for us. "Troy" is already all over the camp.
And I've gotta see that Potter movie.
the:http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/reference/index.htm website.
It was a small almost aside comment that Book 6 would be out next June.
Sorry, I didn't bookmark it! If you search on "Harry Potter Book Six" there are several sites where rumors are discussed. Enjoy.
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