THE Michael Collins film has been secretly screened for Northern Ireland cinema owners who are concerned about disturbances after the IRA bombing in Lisburn.
A copy of the film was brought from Dublin to Belfast amid great secrecy last week, and the distributors, Warner Brothers, issued strict orders that no member of the press or public be allowed to see it when it was shown in a city centre complex.
Meanwhile in the Republic, cinema owners say they are being inundated with advance bookings for the opening tomorrow week.
The screening in the North was arranged so that concerned cinema owners could decide whether to show the film.
Mr Michael McAdam, the owner of cinemas at Glengormley and Yorkgate in Belfast, said the film contained a lot of violence.
But he said: "I feel Michael Collins has to be screened. It is an extremely professional production and moviegoers should be allowed to act as their own censors.
In the Republic Ms Ita Bourke, regional manager with the Ward Anderson Group, said the interest was "phenomenal".
The group runs Dublin's Savoy band Screen cinemas and the Omniplex in Santry, as well as houses in towns throughout the Republic.
"I haven't seen anything like it before," she said.
"We started taking bookings about three weeks ago. They started to phone immediately. It will probably be the biggest thing ever.
"We would expect it to do better than Independence Day. There is a huge amount of interest in it. It should break all box office records. If interest before it opens (as an indication of how it will do) there will be full houses everywhere."
She stressed that the interest was high throughout the State, in towns such as Tralee, Wexford, Waterford, Carlow, Clonmel and Galway as well as Dublin.
"It has been phenomenal in all locations."
She said there generally was a great deal of local interest in Irish films, as had happened with In the Name of the Father and The Commitments but Michael Collins seemed to have exceeded all expectations.
Ms Barbara Murphy, marketing co ordinator with UCI Ireland, said that "the awareness levels are really high".
The opening night had been booked out for screenings at UCI in Tallaght and Coolock.
The demand for advance bookings, which started at UCI six weeks ago, has meant there will he a number of showings at each centre each night.
Overall there will be at least four (and possibly six) shows a day in Tallaght, which has a seating capacity of 1,600.
The same will happen in Coolock, which has a capacity of 1,500. For an Irish film, it will be, the biggest opening yet, said Ms, Murphy.
"We don't expect it to open as big as Independence Day but it will last a lot longer and we expect she repeat business to be far better also," she said.
"We expect it to last well up to Christmas and the new year."
The premiere of the film will be a two pronged event with gala showings next Wednesday in the Savoy Cinema, Dublin, and the Capital Cineplex in Cork.
The special guests and celebrities, including the director, Neil Jordan, will attend both functions, travelling by air from one to the other.
The film also goes on general release in Britain tomorrow week.
There will be some preview screenings next Thursday, and on Friday the doors will open to the public.