TGV says restarting movie was never due to late arrival of VIPs

According to the cinema operator, showing of 'The Batman' was stopped and restarted because of technical issues. Photo: CHAN BOON KAI/The Star

TGV Cinemas was recently criticised for restarting a movie that had already been playing for 45 minutes at one of its outlets at Kuching, Sarawak.

It was alleged that the screening of The Batman was stopped and restarted due to late arrivals of some VIPs.

However, a TGV spokesperson said this was never the case.

The cinema operator clarified that it had done “a thorough investigation of the incident” that happened at the 7.15pm screening on Saturday (March 5), in TGV Vivacity.

“The session delays were caused due to a technical issue at our IMAX hall, and not due to late arrivals of VIPs as has been wrongly stated in some media,” the spokesperson shared.

“At TGV, we honour and treat all our guests equally with the utmost priority.

“We would like to assure everyone that the decision to restart the movie was not influenced by any VIP’s late arrivals, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

The spokesperson added that although the technical issue was fixed – allowing the 7.15pm showing to start on time – "due to miscommunication, some staff at the entrance presumed 7.15pm show would also be delayed".

“At this time approximately 20% of the guests had already entered the hall while the remaining 80% were still waiting at the foyer and entered the hall after the movie had already commence.”

“We acknowledge the decision to stop and restart the movie inconvenienced our customers.

“As stated in our initial statement, this is not our screening policy. We assure you that we are taking corrective measures to ensure this is not repeated.

As a token of apology, TGV says affected guests will be given full refunds and two complimentary movie tickets.