Imminent, credible terrorist threat in Hollywood this week puts Disney's 'Rogue One' movie premiere in jeopardy

The Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, site of the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story movie premiere
Saturday night, will take place during a time of a credible terrorist threat in the Hollywood area
A panicked news conference put together by Los Angeles-area law enforcement officials at the last moment drew the public's attention to a very specific and imminent terrorist threat to Universal City's Red Line Metro subway station in North Hollywood Monday night.

Map of road closures of Hollywood Boulevard this week, starting Monday until
next Tuesday for the Saturday premiere of Star Wars: Rogue One
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies had to hastily call the news conference together because they simply ran out of time before the attack was planned to take place.

An anonymous overseas tip to an Australian public safety tip line about an imminent bombing of the L.A. Metro Red Line station at Universal City forced local law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles to scramble to respond and notify the public at the last possible moment of an imminent terrorist attack scheduled for Tuesday on the Universal City Metro station.

An anonymous man, speaking in English, warned of the potential attack planned for Tuesday, providing specific and credible information on a public tip line abroad, according to Deidre Fike, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's office in Los Angeles.



Security throughout the L.A. Metro subway system was noticeably beefed up Monday night and all day Tuesday with bag checks, heavily armed deputies, and bomb sniffing dogs.


While it's understandable that law enforcement agencies have a sworn duty to warn the public of an imminent attack and it was the responsible thing to do, there is also little doubt that announcing the terrorist plot to the public also would tip off the terrorist sleeper cell in question that law enforcement was aware of the imminent attack and were ready to deal with it.

heavily armed deputies were seen around the L.A. metro station in Universal City
So no one really expected the attack on the L.A. Metro subway station at Universal City to go forward as planned after the announcement; however, that doesn't necessarily mean the threat of an imminent terrorist attack in Los Angeles has necessarily ended.

At the point the news went public, the terrorists would be forced to either abort their planned attack(s) or move on to a plan B for an alternative target, which is now going to be a much bigger concern for law enforcement agencies if that is the case.

Unfortunately for L.A. officials, there is already a suitable, highly-visible alternative target coming up this Saturday with the world movie premiere in Hollywood of Star Wars: Rogue One inside the Pantages Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, not far from the Universal City Metro station.


Law enforcement officials have already confirmed the terrorist threat in Los Angeles was much broader than just an isolated bombing plot at the L.A. Metro subway station near Universal Studios, but because the tip had some glaring inconsistencies, it limited the information's credibility to the lone site that was disclosed on Monday, but that doesn't necessarily discredit a broader terror threat involving other potential sites.

It might not have been smart for Disney to have announced the world premiere
of Rogue One would be held at the Pantages Theatre ahead of time, given there
is a credible and imminent terrorist threat of an attack in the area 
No doubt, since the attack did not go off as planned on Tuesday, the very real possibility of an alternative target for an imminent attack has to be considered by law enforcement officials at this point, and all eyes are on the highly-anticipated Star Wars: Rogue One premiere coming up on Saturday.

Exactly where and when that might happen now is not known by law enforcement, but because the cat is out of bag, law-enforcement agencies will now have to be prepared for the worst in any number of possible situations and scenarios, including at highly visible, high-value potential targets such as major Hollywood world movie premieres, working without any specific tips.

While road closures have already begun Monday night on Hollywood Boulevard, between Argyle Avenue and Ivar Avenue, and Vine Street, between Hollywood Boulevard and Yucca Street, in anticipation of Saturday's world premiere of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, street closures will be extended for Hollywood Boulevard, between Cahuenga Boulevard and Gower Street, and Vine Street, between Sunset Boulevard to Yucca Street, on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.


A few LAPD officers could already be seen on horseback near Hollywood and Vine by the Metro station. No doubt, Disney is very nervous about security for the event given all that has happened this week.


Disney does not expect the off-shoot, stand-alone Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to do anywhere near the kind of box-office business that they had with Episode VII. 

Lack of originality may make Rogue One a Star Wars story to forget
The hype of resurrecting the fan-favorite sci-fi franchise after Disney bought out LucasFilm in 2012 for over $4 billion has, so far, not met the exceedingly high expectations of many die-hard Star Wars fans.

Rogue One has had production difficulties with the finished product and storyline and has had somewhat disappointing feedback from audience focus groups reviewing the movie.

Disney has also been soundly criticized by critics and fans alike for Episode VII for rehashing the exact same story lines from the original trilogy and conspicuously turning the sci-fi saga into one of its patented Disney "princess movies" by casting the lead characters in the new trilogy as 2-dimensional "Mary Sue" type heroines.


Success or failure of the stand-alone Rogue One will determine whether Disney will make significant changes to its politically-correct "Disneyfied" vision of the sci-fi franchise. 


Changes were already afoot when Disney heard the displeasure of many Star Wars fans who did not like the lack of originality and lack of character development from Episode VII: The Force Awakens. After all, how many Star Wars movies can a die-hard fan take with the insipid plot of yet another Death Star written by Disney's team of writers?


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