Inside Move

'Egypt' and the mystery of POE

By GLENN LOVELL

Theaters expecting prints of "The Prince of Egypt" for advance critics screenings were caught off guard this week when two yellow, padlocked canisters labeled "Edgar Allan Poe" arrived by courier.

Had someone in the shipping department gotten a Gothic thriller mixed up with DreamWorks' new animated retelling of the Moses story?

"I figured we'd gotten the wrong print and was ready to call the number on the canister (1-800-99-FILMS)," said Dennis Skaggs, co-owner of the Camera Cinemas arthouse chain in San Jose.

But then Skaggs worked it out: POE is an acronym for "Prince of Egypt."

Nervous about unauthorized duplications of their $75 million, PG-rated gamble, Jeffrey Katzenberg and the folks at DreamWorks are exercising extra-special caution prior to "POE's" Dec. 18 opening.

Hence, the trick tag and the combination locks. Reps with Technicolor Entertainment in Wilmington, Ohio, called theaters with different four-digit combinations.

"I've never seen these things padlocked before," Skaggs said. "You couldn't get these (locks) off with bolt cutters. I guess they're concerned about piracy."