Cine Expo: Inception screening interrupted by sound snafu

Warner Bros today unveiled Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated Inception to exhibitors at Cine Expo in Amsterdam. The film was shown on 35mm, having only been finished two days ago and arriving in Amsterdam yesterday.

Unfortunately, the screening was interrupted by sound problems at the RAI Auditorium. The sound cut out for several minutes of the film, missing out some crucial dialogue. Cine Expo organisers stopped the screening to replace an amplifier and resumed it with the sound fixed (although those several minutes weren’t replayed, to the grumbles of many).

Attendees were asked not to speak to the press their reaction to the film, but the applause after the screening was very hearty and ScreenDaily overheard quite a few “brilliant” comments. Cine Expo has proven to be a good launch pad for Nolan before, as The Dark Knight was screened here two years ago.

Bob Sunshine, Cine Expo head, said at a lunch later: “I apologise to Warner Bros for the snafu we had, I want to emphasise it had nothing to do with their film. It was our equipment. It happens.”

The sci-fi action film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.

DiCaprio stars as Dom Cobb, a man involved in corporate espionage who attempts one last job to get his life back. He and his cohorts are tasked not with stealing an idea but planting one.

At yesterday’s product presentation, Warner previewed Brad Peyton’s 3D animation/live-action Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore; Ben Affleck’s crime drama The Town; Zack Snyder’s 3D Legend of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole; Greg Berlanti’s Life as We Know It starring Katherine Heigl, Josh Duhamel and Josh Lucas; Clint Eastwood’s drama Hereafter starring Matt Damon and Cecile De France; Todd Phillips’ comedy Due Date starring Robert Downey Jr, Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan and Jamie Foxx; and two other 3D tent poles: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Yogi Bear.

Here at Cine Expo, the company also screened Going The Distance, the Nanette Burstein-directed romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.

With rumours about the Expo’s future circling this week, Sunshine noted that the organisation would be planning another event for next summer, although he didn’t say that Cine Expo would return to Amsterdam’s RAI. “We will be returning somewhere in Europe next year with a bigger and better show. We will let you know in the next 30 days,” Sunshine said. Coca-Cola also marked the closing day of the 2010 Cine Expo by renewing its sponsorship of the event for a further three years.