During one of the FBI debriefings, in the aftermath of the San Bernardino attack, it was noted that reports had come in to local law enforcement about specific mid-Eastern males casing movie theaters.  The mention quickly went down the rabbit hole.  However,….

(Via Deadline ) With a rush of holiday moviegoers and following some suspicious activity outside theaters in at least two U.S. cities — one last week in Southern California and another in Arizona last night — exhibitors across the nation have “doubled” workforce security in preparation for the 4,134-theater release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

It is understood that armed guards will be on duty in some cases and that heightened security at the nation’s theaters will be in place throughout the holidays.

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) sent a notice out to its members about both suspicious incidents, Deadline was told, including the latest incident in Tempe, AZ.

When contacted by Deadline, a NATO spokesman said, “As a general rule we don’t comment on security issues.”

One film buyer who has the film booked on the majority of their screens said they have five security guards employed at each theater. “We’ve hired security at every location to be safe,” the buyer said. “We will have five (guards) posted and reserve the right to check (customers’) bags. We will not let anyone walk in with a backpack or anything larger than a purse, and whatever they are carrying will be checked.”

[…]  The most recent report of suspicious activity happened in a theater in Tempe, AZ, the home to Arizona State University. At a mall theater there, according to documents obtained by Deadline, two men in their “mid- to late 20s’” who were “Middle Eastern in appearance … and spoke with a heavy foreign accent” walked into a theater a little after 11 PM and began filming with their cellphone camera. They walked in without tickets and blew past the door employee.  (read much more)