One man is dead and two men are on the run in Texas after a heated argument over the ending of 300: Rise Of An Empire turned deadly. At this point, details are still few and far between, but police are saying that 23-year-old Michael Emerson was run down by two unidentified individuals in a Ford F-150 truck in the parking lot of the Silverado Movie Theater in Tomball.
According to KHOU, Emerson, a group of his friends and the two alleged assailants all attended the same screening of 300: Rise OF An Empire on Monday night. Afterwards, a lively discussion reportedly began in the bathroom over whether or not it would be possible to put together a sequel given the film’s ending. That lively discussion reportedly turned into an argument which eventually spilled over into the parking lot. The mystery duo supposedly walked away and got into their truck to leave, but when Emerson approached the vehicle and said something else to them, the driver reportedly threw it in reverse and plowed into the victim. He was rushed to the hospital as soon as the paramedics arrived, but he was later pronounced dead from his injuries.
Speculating and even arguing about individual movies and the history of film franchises can be a lot of fun, but there’s no reason for a disagreement like this to ever get violent or even overly heated, especially between two strangers. We would all like to think of movie theaters as safe bubbles, places we can go to engage with something bigger than ourselves and find a way to connect with people.
Unfortunately, over the past few years, the stupid decisions of a few have resulted in lives being ruined and families being destroyed. I think I speak for everyone when I say that’s completely unacceptable. Theorize, speculate, discuss up to a point with whoever and then stop before it crosses a line and someone, like the man pictured below, ends up dead.
Police are currently searching for the two suspects who they claim to have caught on surveillance video cameras from inside the theater. Between the grainy image, the specific details on their truck and the intense media coverage, it seems likely they will be caught sooner rather than later. Hopefully, they’ll take the wise approach to turn themselves in, whether the situation happened as everyone is saying or not.
Cinema Blend’s sincerest thoughts go out to the family of Michael Emerson, as well as everyone else who was touched by his life. Clearly, he was cut down far too quickly, but maybe his death will lead people to take a step back and realize confronting someone over a differing movie viewpoint just isn’t worth it.
