Big--but Quiet--’Colors’ Opening

Green was the primary color of “Colors” over the weekend as the controversial film about L.A. gangs opened to reported sold-out theaters and around-the-block lines around the country.

The Orion film, which some feared would provoke violence in theaters and might deter moviegoers, instead quietly pulled in an estimated $4.8 million at 422 theaters nationwide, ranking second to the surprise hit “Beetlejuice.” “Colors” brought in an average of $11,249 per screen, according to the distributor.

Police officials contacted around the country on Monday reported few confrontations at theaters showing “Colors.” Most theater managers reached said that virtually the only conflicts came from people cutting into long admission or concession lines.

The film’s national release was protested locally by the NAACP, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and anti-gang community organizations in Lynwood and Compton. Members of the Guardian Angels, a self-styled anti-violence group, had picketed the Oscars and the homes of director Dennis Hopper and star Sean Penn in Los Angeles, and also protested the movie in New York City and Chicago during the last two weeks.

While Orion Pictures Distribution Chairman Joel Resnick would not comment on the controversy, he said that the picture will be put on “a few more” screens in California after the weekend’s strong opening. The film opened in 50 Southland theaters Friday.

“After that, we plan to go to over 1,000 screens on April 29,” Resnick said. “We’ve been planning to do that for months.”

The film opened primarily in suburban multiplexes nationwide, although in Los Angeles and New York it also played near inner-city areas.

“Just about the only problems we had were with people cutting in,” said Michael Schnell, manager of the Hollywood Pacific Theater, where 10 people were arrested for misdemeanors Friday night. “Instead, what I’m hearing is that people really like the movie. They’re coming out juiced up.”

Thirteen arrests were made over the weekend at Southland theaters showing “Colors,” mostly for misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace and alcohol violations, law enforcement officials said.

Locally and elsewhere, authorities kept a close eye on showcase theaters where the film opened but wouldn’t reveal their plans for monitoring the film’s opening. Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon said Monday that the opening-weekend audiences were like those for any other action film.

“We didn’t plan anything special, because we had no hard facts that this picture meant anything special in terms of security,” said Nixon. “It was just another action picture, and the weekend’s lack of activity kind of validated our point of view.”

Los Angeles police and sheriff’s deputies parked cars at or near most of the theaters showing the film, local law enforcement officials said.

Three Southland theaters--the United Artists 6 in Montclair, the Upland Cinemas 8 and the Laemmle Grande downtown--canceled their exhibition contracts on “Colors” before the weekend screenings began.

Elsewhere throughout the country, “Colors” did land-office business with a minimum of fuss over the weekend, according to reports.

“It’s a decent response,” said a manager at the Allerton Theatre in the Bronx borough of New York. “The young people say it’s a lot of baloney, which I take to be a good response. The young people coming out of the film say they don’t believe the movie.”

“We always have protection here,” said the manager of Loews Paradise Quad, also in the Bronx. “They are familiar with what is happening in the movie. It’s like a way of living for them. I can’t say that what’s happening is nice, but that’s what they want to see, so we give it to them.”

According to San Diego Police Department spokesman Bill Robinson, gang members showed up at San Diego’s Horton Plaza Cinemas Friday night and began a fracas at the end of the 7:30 screening at the United Artists theater. Police stepped in to break up the fracas. There were “a few minor confrontations elsewhere,” Robinson said. The Horton Plaza theater reportedly canceled screenings for the balance of this week; UA would not confirm the cancellation and the manager could not be reached for comment.

In Orange County, audiences were numerous and quiet. “It gave us the best area-wide opening weekend for any film this year,” Jim Edwards, president of Edwards Theaters, said Monday. Edwards Theaters, Orange County’s largest cinema chain, booked “Colors” at eight screens in the county, and reported no disturbances. Each theater pulled in an average of more than $20,000 per screen, Edwards said.

In Colma, south of San Francisco, Police Chief Arthur Dollosso ordered a downtown theater to stop showing the movie Saturday because of unruly crowds the previous night. But elsewhere in the Bay Area, including San Francisco and Oakland, theaters were packed and disruptions were sparse and minimal, according to theater managers.

In Chicago, there were protests but not much else. Forty Guardian Angels picketed a downtown theater Friday, and Mothers Against Gangs organization founder Frances Sandoval criticized the movie for “romanticizing the gang problem.” Chicago police kept unmarked cars with three or more officers parked near the entrances of movie houses showing the film. Acting Mayor Eugene Sawyer, the police superintendent, aldermen and local gang experts all opposed the showing of the film in a series of press conferences that began Friday and continued throughout the weekend. Exhibition sources in Chicago estimated that the film took in $370,000 over the weekend.

In the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township, police reported a shooting early Sunday outside a five-theater complex where “Colors” had been shown. A manager at Showcase Cinema who asked not to be identified said the shooting was unrelated to the gang film and that those involved had seen a different film in the same complex.

“Colors” opened in only one theater in Miami, where managers hired uniformed police officers to work off-duty on opening night, said spokesman Sgt. David Rivero. Rivero said there were no disturbances. “Fortunately for us, it was played in only one theater within city limits, so Metro-Dade’s (the surrounding county’s) gang unit had to cover the rest,” Rivero said. Metro-Dade Police spokesmen said officers were at suburban theaters where the film screened and that no trouble had been reported.

The film opened without incident in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Tex., and Seattle.

In cities where “Colors” has yet to open, the tidal wave of national coverage has prompted local police to downplay the film’s potential for disruption.

“We’re not putting any special emphasis on (the film) at all,” said Sgt. Les Smith of the Denver Police Department. The film opens in the Colorado capital April 29. “The Crips, from down your way (in Los Angeles), have been our major problem, but we’ve been lucky in being able to keep them--some of them anyway--away. We’re not going to play this (movie) up at all.”

Times Staff Writers Lorna Nones, Dallas Jamison, Larry Green, Eileen Quigley, Jack Mathews, Jan Herman and Rhona Schwartz contributed to this article.