‘Dark Knight’ Shooting Prompts Elevated Security At European Theaters, Paris Cancels All Press Events

In response to the Dark Knight Rises massacre on Friday, theaters throughout Europe are taking added security precautions.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, major theater chains, such as the UK's Cineworld and Germany's CinemaxX, have put extra security into place.

We were already going to increase security for this release, because it is going to be so popular anyway, a source for Cineworld confirmed. But we are working on this even more as a result of this tragedy.

Anne Schmidt, a spokesman for CinemaxX, told the outlet that the company is taking extensive measures to ensure that their audiences are safe.

We're devastated. We look at the movie theater as a wonderful place to relax, where people with a common interest in special content can be entertained, Schmidt said. But the cause of such tragedies can't be found in the cinema. For the start of the film in Germany we will ensure our security personal are clearly present, but we assume our audience, more than anything else, wants to be entertained by a fantastic film that many have been waiting for with great anticipation.

In the wake of the Aurora, Colo., massacre, the Dark Knight Rises Paris premiere has been canceled. The star-studded red carpet event was to be attended by the likes of Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard.

The film's cast, along with director Christopher Nolan, is staying at hotel Le Bristol in Paris, where an afternoon press conference and interviews were set to take place. According to the Hollywood Reporter, all scheduled Dark Knight Rises press events have been canceled.

The shooting occurred in a theater outside of Denver at a midnight showing of the highly anticipated film. A total of twelve theatergoers have been reported dead while fifty were injured.

The gunman, Colorado resident James Holmes, 24, was apprehended at the scene.