This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
What does Deadpool think of the Utah liquor cops busting a movie theater for showing his movie? We finally have an answer.
Actor Ryan Reynolds, who plays Marvel Comics' "merc with a mouth" anti-hero in the hit movie "Deadpool," tweeted a sarcastic comment about the case early Sunday morning.
"Thank god, they've found a way to legislate fun," Reynolds wrote on his verified Twitter account. He also posted a link to a story about the incident from the pop-culture website Bleeding Cool.
The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control last week cited Salt Lake City's Brewvies Cinema Pub for violating state liquor law by showing nudity and simulated sex in a place that serves booze.
Three undercover agents from the Utah Bureau of Investigation went to Brewvies on Feb. 26, ordered beer and watched the R-rated "Deadpool." The cops cited Brewvies because of scenes of Reynolds and co-star Morena Baccarin having simulated sex while nude, and for a moment of male full-frontal nudity.
The officers also noted an image over the closing credits, an animated image of Deadpool riding "on the back of a unicorn, he rubs its horn briefly until the horn shoots out rainbows (simulating orgasm)."
Brewvies faces a maximum fine of $25,000, and a 10-day suspension of its liquor license. (This was Brewvies' second offense under the state's obscenity law, having been fined $1,627 for the images of male genitalia in "The Hangover Part II" in 2011.)
Brewvies and its lawyer, civil-rights attorney and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, have filed a federal lawsuit against the state, arguing that the liquor law violates the theater's First Amendment rights to free speech. Fans of the theater have so far contributed nearly $7,000 to a crowd-funding campaign on GoFundMe.com.
UPDATE: Make that $12,000. Reynolds, or someone using that name, pledged $5,000 to the crowd-funding campaign on Sunday.