Top 10 Most Shocking Moments at Movie Premieres

Top 10 Most Shocking Moments at Film Premieres

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Most Shocking Moments at Film Premieres.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the most surprising events that made for memorable movie premieres.

What’s one showing you would have loved to attend? Let us know in the comments!

#10: “Step Up Revolution” Flash Mob

If you’re going to have a flash mob anywhere, it might as well be at the premiere for a “Step Up” movie. The crowd of dancers was made up of fans and professionals alike, and provided apt entertainment for those waiting to see the fourth installment in the long-lived dance franchise. Of course, all of this was planned - as most flash mobs are - but that didn’t make the interactive experience any less fun. The film itself actually features several flash mobs, one of which is a rather snazzy group comprised of men and women in suits. Can you guess which was replicated at the premiere?

#9: Quentin Tarantino Is Threatened by the Fraternal Order of Police

At a 2015 rally, Quentin Tarantino took a stand against police brutality, joining a protest and saying that he was a “human being with a conscience [...] on the side of the murdered.” This simple statement drew ire from the largest police union, with executive director Jim Pasco saying he had a “surprise” for the “Kill Bill” director. The ominous rebuttal had fans worried that something would happen at the premiere of Tarantino’s upcoming film, “The Hateful Eight,” but…nothing did. In an anticlimactic twist, it seems that Pasco didn’t actually have anything planned after all. Either that, or he realized how bad it looked to rebuff criticisms of brutality with threats to public figures.

#8: Princess Diana Attends the Premiere of “Back to the Future”

Princess Diana showing up to the premiere of your movie sounds like a dream, right? Apparently not for Michael J. Fox, who said the Princess of Wales’ appearance at “Back to the Future’s” very first showing was a “nightmare.” That’s not to say the Canadian star wasn’t a fan of Princess Diana, quite the opposite in fact. The pressure she brought with her appearance proved to be just a little too much for an actor in his 20s. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Fox recounted that she sat right next to him during the screening, leaving him afraid to take a bathroom break for two agonizing hours. Too bad he didn’t have a real time machine so that he could’ve used the bathroom before the movie began!

#7: A Scavenger Surprise

“Over the Hedge” is a delightful animated film about a ragtag group of forest animals who come to find that their woodland home has recently been taken over by humans. RJ the Raccoon, who owes a bear some food, decides to convince the other animals to forage with him in the homes of their new neighbors - with varying results. The film was a hit with families, critics, and…vultures. Yep, you heard that right: a trained vulture actually attended the “Over the Hedge” premiere. We just hope he wasn’t disappointed by the lack of bird representation.

#6: Jerry Seinfeld Zooms into the “Bee Movie” Premiere as a Giant Bee

The flight of the bumblebee has never been more literal…or more horrifying. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, Jerry Seinfeld who co-wrote and starred in the Dreamworks animated film “Bee Movie,” pulled off what might be the campiest publicity stunt to date. The comedian apparently said that if there’s anything he hates “it's publicity that smacks of any kind of desperation,” just moments before being sent flying down a wire in a giant bee suit, right over the heads of Cannes attendees. It’s one heck of a punchline, that’s for sure! (Or should we say buzz-line?)

#5: A Parade of Nude Cyclists

It seems like a no-brainer that recreating a memorable scene from a film in real life would be a great way to promote it. This is especially true when a film is premiering at a festival as big as Cannes, where it is forced to compete for attention alongside other endeavors. As such, the Belgian movie, “The Misfortunates,” decided to do just that - and it shocked a lot of unsuspecting festival-goers in the process. A parade of cyclists were hired to ride through the streets near Cannes - completely nude.

#4: Kevin Smith Auctions Off the Rights to “Red State”… to Himself

When “Red State” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the stakes were higher than usual. For months prior to the screening, director Kevin Smith had promised to auction the horror film’s rights to the highest bidder at the screening. Prospective buyers would be disappointed, however, as the auction was merely a stunt for Smith to sell the film to himself. Smith caused a ruckus outside of the theater as well, organizing his own counter protest against the Westboro Baptist Church. Although the infamous church served as inspiration for the antagonists of his film, Smith invited one of the families protesting inside to see it. Needless to say, they weren’t the biggest fans of his work.

#3: Everything That Happened with “Don’t Worry Darling”

If you’re a fan of mega pop sensation Harry Styles, you’ve probably heard at least a portion of the drama surrounding “Don’t Worry Darling” already. To keep things brief, director Olivia Wilde claimed that she fired Shia Labeouf due to Florence Pugh’s discomfort with the actor, and then Shia accused her of lying and shared a private video of Wilde asking him to come back to set. Shortly afterwards, Florence skipped the press event for the film at the Venice Film Festival, leaving Olivia and Harry to flounder (mostly) on their own. Florence’s stylists also made a shady Instagram post referencing the Shia video and, for a brief moment, the internet was very convinced that Harry spit on co-star Chris Pine.

#2: The Yellow Carpet

What better way is there to promote “Jackass: Number Two” than being…well, a “jackass”? This seems to have been the logic behind Steve-O’s poorly thought out publicity stunt. At the Los Angeles premiere for the film, the star stunt performer relieved himself in front of crowds of fans. Onlookers were shocked, but not shocked enough for the star to get into any real trouble. Although he easily could have caught an indecent exposure citation, it would probably have felt pretty silly to do so at the premiere of a film that showcased far worse than stray urine. Still, don’t try this or urine trouble!

#1: A Fake Gunman Crashes a Local “Iron Man 3” Premiere

There’s never a time for this kind of stunt, but especially not the year after the real life 2012 theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. During “Iron Man 3’s” opening weekend, one Missouri theater thought they’d add a little excitement to the local premiere by hiring actors to storm into the screening with fake weapons. Unsurprisingly, many theater-goers were more than shaken. Some even called the cops! Worse yet, the theater’s manager defended his baffling marketing decision after the fiasco, even going so far as to claim that many found the stunt entertaining. This is Mandarin behavior, guys! (And no one likes the Mandarin…)