Odeon kicks Rambo in the 'nads

Refuses to screen Stallone gorefest

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Entertainment, 26th February 2008 14:20 GMT

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Sylvester Stallone's latest outing as trigger-happy action man Rambo has suffered a nasty hit in the wallet thanks to the Odeon cinema chain refusing to screen the movie, the BBC reports.

The snub is reflected in the first-weekend box office chart for the UK and Ireland, which shows Rambo in third place on £1.24m, with Jumper and Be Kind Rewind clocking a respectable £1.51m and £1.38m, respectively.

While Odeon has explained its decision is based on "commercial reasons", Diana Lodderhose of Screen International cites a bust-up between the chain and Sony Pictures Releasing which could see takings for Sly cut by a half.

She told the Beeb: "It would have been number one had they not had this spat with Odeon. I would have thought it would have hit £2.5m to £3m on another hundred screens. People were really looking forward to it and the cinemas that were showing it were pretty packed."

The BBC notes that 18-rated Rambo has taken some flack for its "extreme violence". Previous screen appearances of the rugged American hero attracted criticism for failing to adequately explore the inner turmoil of the eponymous hero, preferring instead to substitute subtle analysis of Rambo's psyche with heavy-calibre firearm rounds and lots of stuff exploding. ®

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