10 Films Cinemas Refused To Play (And Why)

Unplanned - an anti-abortion drama - was always going to be a controversial movie, and it sure as hell had a lot of negative press directed its way in the months and weeks surrounding its early 2019 release.

Several major U.S. TV networks declined to air advertisements for the film on account of its sketchy subject matter, and the official Unplanned Twitter account was even suspended (and then reinstated) for reasons unknown.

To top it all off, there were issues with actually getting the movie into theatres, particularly in Canada. Cineplex - one of the country's biggest chains - initially refused to screen the film, although they claimed that this was down to distribution issues, rather than the content of the movie. The company would soon play the film in 14 cinemas, although not without a lot of audience pushback which forced them to issue a defensive statement.

And even though Cineplex eventually started playing it, a lot of smaller chains didn't follow suit. Numerous Canadian theatres refused to screen it altogether, while a few locations - such as Salmar Theatres in the city of Salmon Arm - cancelled their planned screenings after staff members received death threats.