​Kids In Tears As Cinema Shows Horror Film Instead Of Detective Pikachu

Young cinemagoers in Canada were given a nice surprise when they sat down to enjoy a screening of the family-friendly new Detective Pikachu film - as it soon became apparent they weren't watching the Pokémon caper they'd been expecting, but instead the new terrifying horror flick, The Curse of La Llorona.

Warner Bros

Ryan George, who works at film site ScreenRant, live-tweeted the whole debacle, explaining that eyebrows began to raise when the trailers didn't seem particularly appropriate for preceding Detective Pikachu, which sees Ryan Reynolds voicing the fluffy Pokémon favourite.

In a series of tweets, he wrote: "The theatre I'm in is playing a trailer for Annabelle Comes Home before Detective Pikachu LOOK AWAY CHILDREN OH NO.

"Andddd kids are crying. Now the Joker trailer is playing.

"NOW IT'S CHUCKY OH NO CHILDREN OH NO.

"OH MY GOD THEY'RE PLAYING LA LLORANA INSTEAD OF DETECTIVE PIKACHU."

Detective Pikachu, as you may know, is based on the Pokémon spin-off game of the same name, in which players work with a talking Pikachu to solve mysteries.

The new film follows Pikachu as he helps Tim (Justice Smith) to solve a mystery, with one of the movie's villains believed to be Greninja - a dark/water type frog-like Pokémon.

The Curse of La Llorona, meanwhile, is a supernatural horror film that is the sixth installment in The Conjuring Universe. Based on the Mexican folklore or La Llorona, it follows a mother who must save her child from an evil spirit who is trying to steal them.

So, yeah, basically not quite what the kids were expecting when they sat down to the new Pokémon spinoff.

Warner Bros

While the experience might have been pretty harrowing for the 'crying' children, many people on Twitter have found the funny side - while some even said they'd been through something similar as a youngster.

One person tweeted: "I find this absolutely hilarious. I saw my first horror movie when I was 6. The original HALLOWEEN. I would let my kid stay and watch."

Another said: "I saw a kids movie in theaters a few years ago and the theater accidentally played the redband trailer for the first Deadpool. That got some comments."

A third wrote: "Reminds me of that time the theater I was in played a trailer for Seed of Chucky before Spiderman 2. I was 11. It was traumatizing."

And, referencing the absolute classic that is Fight Club, someone else quipped: "And when was Tyler Durden spotted?"

Topics: World News, Entertainment, TV and Film, News

Jess Hardiman

Jess is a journalist at LADbible who graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics - indecisiveness at its finest, right there. She also works for FOODbible and its sister page Seitanists, which are both a safe haven for her to channel a love for homemade pasta, fennel and everything else in between. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman