Fox Puts Sniper Film On Hold

With a deadly sniper terrorizing the suburbs of the nation's capital, 20th Century Fox has decided to delay the release of a thriller about people being pinned down in a phone booth by a gunman they can't see.

"Phone Booth," starring Colin Farrell as the shooter's target, was to open Nov. 15.

But the studio decided to delay its release after a sniper killed nine people in suburban Washington, D.C., said Flo Grace, a 20th Century Fox spokeswoman.

A new opening date has not been set.

Screenwriter Larry Cohen, who wrote "Phone Booth" three years ago, has said he wouldn't mind if the studio delayed release of the film in which the shooter lures victims inside a phone booth then threatens to kill them if they hang up.

Another movie with a similar theme, "Interview with the Assassin," will open as scheduled Nov. 15 in New York and Los Angeles, said Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures, which is distributing the film.

The movie, about an ex-Marine who claims he shot President Kennedy, opens in more cities Nov. 22 — the 39th anniversary of the assassination.

"We're monitoring the situation, but right now we plan to go ahead with the release," Bowles said. "Basically we're playing it by ear, seeing what the mood of the country is like."