Police in Arizona have denied reports that two live rattlesnakes were released in a packed cinema during a screening of Samuel L Jackson's film 'Snakes on a Plane.'
US movie chain AMC Entertainment Inc was reported as saying that pranksters at one of its Phoenix cinemas had released two live diamondback rattlesnakes during a showing of the film "Snakes on a Plane" last Friday.
Samuel Jackson in a scene in the film 'Snakes on a Plane'
AMC spokeswoman Melanie Bell told Reuters news agency: "One was found in the parking lot during the show, and the other in the cinema. They were both removed, and no one was harmed."
However, local news reports said Phoenix police had rejected the claim that pranksters were responsible for the presence of the snakes.
Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Tranter confirmed that a 10-inch rattlesnake was found last Friday in the hallway of AMC Desert Ridge 18 but that it was likely to have entered the building on its own. A security guard swept the snake outside and held it in a container until a member of the Arizona Herpetological Association could take it away. Snake handlers had been called earlier in the day to retrieve a rattler from outside the theatre.
The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson, and spins a yarn about a crate-load of escaped snakes that run amok on an airline flight, attacking passengers and crew.
"There were kids at the show, and it was actually very reckless," Russ Johnson, the president of the Phoenix Herpetological Society told Reuters.
"The snakes' bite carries a powerful venom that could have seriously injured someone," he added.