‘Spider-Man’ screening in Colombia was going fine. Then it went horribly wrong with an audience member’s alleged ‘rotten’ fart

A movie theater in Cartagena, Colombia was evacuated after an audience member reportedly had an extreme bout of flatulence during a showing of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The incident happened on August 2 at Cine Colombia, a multiplex inside the Plaza Bocagrande shopping center, according to Jam Press, as cited by the New York Post.

The screening was about halfway through when the smell reportedly filled the dark auditorium, causing people to leave their seats.

Hundreds of moviegoers left their seats and gathered in the hallway

Jam Press reported that hundreds of film fans were evacuated into the hallway outside the theater. Footage from the scene shows confused and upset moviegoers standing in the corridor, including one person dressed in a Spider-Man costume. Movie theaters have seen other disruptive incidents before too, including a moviegoer who was struck with a pizza pan during a separate screening.

The screening itself was not officially canceled. However, many viewers are seen leaving before the movie ended because of the smell. The identity of the person responsible for the smell has not been confirmed. The person either set off a stink bomb as a prank or was unable to reach the bathroom in time.

Many viewers criticized the unidentified moviegoer online. One person said, “There’s no respect anymore, but I don’t think anyone is so rotten as to evacuate an entire auditorium.” Another commenter wrote, “To ruin a whole cinema like that, only God knows what that person ate.” 

Other viewers referred to the unnamed person as the film’s real “villain.” Disruptions from other people in a crowd have caused problems at public events elsewhere too, such as when other attendees ruined a disabled fan’s experience at an NBA Finals game.

The movie itself has received positive reviews from critics and audiences. Spider-Man: Brand New Day holds a 90% approval rating from critics and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film stars Tom Holland in his fourth movie as Spider-Man. New York Post movie critic Johnny Oleksinski said the film has a similar tone to the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies from the 2000s. He described that earlier franchise as the gold standard not just for Spider-Man films, but for Marvel movies overall.

Brand New Day has also performed well at the box office. The film brought in $927 million in worldwide ticket sales, according to The Guardian. This made it the second most successful opening weekend for any film, both in the U.S. and around the world.