Scary Moment for Potter Fans When Screen Goes Blank, Cops Called

The midnight Harry Potter showing at took an unscripted turn for the dramatic in the wee hours Friday, and it wasn't a battle between the Death Eaters and Harry Potter and company.

An old projector lost its magic partway through the movie, upsetting the packed house that had turned out for the Watsonville debut of , the final film in the eight-movie series.

"One of the projectors was having issues, and it just gave out," Luis Garcia, the Green Valley Cinema manager, explained. "The movie stopped for not even 10 minutes but we got it back up and running."

But even a brief, if unplanned, intermission was enough to ire Potter fans. The crowd got unruly, and theater staff called 911.

Three Watsonville cops were sent to the cinema just before 3 a.m. to keep Potter fans in their seats.

"Everyone was upset," Watsonville Police Lt. David McCartney said.

Police were there for about 15 minutes. No arrests were made, McCartney said.

Garcia said the movie interruption was brief and that the rest of the movie was shown. Upset customers were given passes to compensate for the problem.

"Stuff breaks," he said. "It just happened to happen at the worst time."

The theater was operating at full capacity—and with no glitches—Friday. There are five Harry Potter 3D showings and five regular showings daily through the weekend.

"We'll be busy all weekend," Garcia said.