Motorists driving through Sacramento during the Presidents’ Day holiday weekend got an unexpected surprise as the R-rated film “50 Shades of Grey” could clearly be seen from a highway as it played at a nearby drive-in movie theater, KTLA sister station KTXL reported.
The highly publicized book-turned-film received the rating for its language and strong sexual content, including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, according to the Internet Movie Database.
KTXL reported Sunday their newsroom received complaints about graphic images being viewable from Highway 50, located near the WestWind All Digital Drive-in theater, which has six screens that span thousands of square feet each at 9616 Oates Dr. (map).
“I’d think it’s a safety issue; people trying to sneak a peek as they are going 70 miles down the freeway and looking not where they are supposed to be going, but looking at the movie,” John Schmidt of Sacramento told KTXL.
Schmidt went to the theater to celebrate his sons’ 10th birthday, and told the station it’s hard enough regulating what his kids see without the public display.
“We just drove in and these two- he’s 12 and he’s 10- were very interested watching it coming in,” Schmidt said.
Others felt it was not a distraction for motorists driving by.
“I don’t know if they would have enough time to figure out what’s going on,” said Jennifer, who did not provide KTXL with her last name.
The theater’s manager told KTXL she wasn’t sure what the policy was regarding sexual content on their screens, and the theater’s general manager didn’t respond to questions by the time the Sacramento station published their story.
The movie was scheduled to play through Wednesday. Future movie times were unavailable on the theater’s website.
KTLA sister station KTXL in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.