Lee blasts 'Malcolm X' box-office ticket mix-up - filmmaker Spike Lee

Jet, Jan 11, 1993

Filmmaker Spike Lee says people who want to see his film Malcolm X are being given tickets to other movies instead. Lee also said bootleg copies of Malcolm X have started appearing.

The film ticket flap and the illegally made copies of Malcolm X may affect attendance figures.

Lee said his office had received 45 phone calls from people who said they received tickets for Home Alone 2 or Aladdin when they paid for tickets to Malcolm X. No single theater chain was involved, he said.

"I'm not here trying to spin a great conspiracy tale," Lee said at a news conference in New York. "It's the first time I've ever heard of this. That's why it's hard to find that it's a coincidence."

The film's distributor, Warner Bros., said part-time employees hired for the holiday rush were one possible explanation for the problem.

The mix-up was "a random event that is probably attributable to human error," said D. Barry Reardon, who serves as president of the Warner Bros. domestic theater distribution.

Lee also said illegal copies of Malcolm X are being shot on amateur video from inside movie theaters.

At Jet press time, Malcolm X had grossed $35 million since its release in November.