For all of the worry about the
Joker inciting possible real-world violence, it was actually Disney's
Frozen 2 that sparked a machete brawl at a Birmingham cinema. According to the Independent, police responded to
"reports of a group armed with machetes" during a screening of
Frozen 2 earlier this week.
Police attempted to clear the area when "pockets of fighting broke out," resulting in a number of police officers getting assaulted. Footage of the incident
can be seen here.
“There was a fight in the cinema... group of girls on one girl and it all escalated,” eyewitness Choleigh McGuire shared on Twitter.
“The group ran into the cinema rooms to hide and a lot of police turned up. Has to be one of the scariest experiences of my life, so sad all the little children were there!”
A follow-up report confirmed that a 13-year-old girl was among five teenagers arrested over the brawl in which up to 100 teenagers were involved in. Two fourteen year olds (a girl and a boy) and a 19-year-old man were held on suspicion of assaulting officers, while another 14-year-old boy was arrested for obstructing police.
The police also confirmed that people were armed with machetes.
"Two machetes were seized during the trouble, which saw pockets of fighting and seven police officers left with minor injuries as they dealt with the crowds in and around the cinema," a spokesperson for West Midlands Police said.
While the incident is still being investigated, it
"bears the hallmarks of an organized fight between rival groups."
On the bright side for Disney,
Frozen 2 had the biggest animated opening ever, earning $350 million globally.