Exhib glitch no big deal
Refunded 'Candidate' tix won't affect B.O. totals
The thriller's audio began to falter late in the 10:10 p.m. showing last Friday, then went silent in the climactic political convention scene. The line for refunds stretched well down Hollywood Boulevard, with some attendees receiving credit card reversals, some getting cash and some receiving free passes.
Paramount spokeswoman Nancy Kirkpatrick explained that such refunding is covered as part of the standard studio-exhibitor contract under a 2% "pass rate" designed to account for the costs of passes and refunds. "Something like this would be amortized during the course of a run," she noted.
"Manchurian" has taken in close to $26 million in its first six days of release.
