With Verdicts Imminent, Movie Plans Are Changed : Films: Worry over possible violence related to King trial forces studios to rethink marketing for ‘Bound by Honor’ and ‘Boiling Point.’

Worried about the possibility for civil disturbance after the release of verdicts in the Rodney King civil rights trial, two studios have changed plans for their movies in Los Angeles.

Affected is the L.A. opening of Hollywood Pictures’ “Bound by Honor” and the ad campaign here for Warner Bros.’ “Boiling Point.”

“Bound by Honor” is now bypassing Los Angeles on its April 30 release in about 20 markets. The urban Latino drama will be released here by Disney. Hollywood Pictures is a division of Disney.

“Bound by Honor,” which already received limited release under the title “Blood In, Blood Out,” is about three cousins growing up in East Los Angeles. One becomes a gang member, one a drug-addicted artist and one a police officer.

“Our intent has always been to release the movie in Los Angeles . . . It just seemed like the propitious thing to do was wait until a more opportune time,” said Dick Cook, president of distribution for Buena Vista Pictures, Disney’s distribution arm. Cook said he is not sure how long the studio will wait.

And last week Warners changed the print advertising for “Boiling Point,” the action-adventure about a U.S. Treasury agent (Wesley Snipes) seeking revenge against the man who killed his partner. The print ads feature a close-up of Snipes with “He’s a cop who’s reached the Boiling Point” at the bottom. Until last Thursday, the ads showed Snipes with a large handgun protruding into the foreground. The new ads have no gun.

Robert Friedman, president of advertising and publicity for Warner Bros., said studio executives decided on the changes Monday after discussing the matter over the weekend.

“When we first started with the release date and the campaign, we had no awareness of when the trial was going to jury,” Friedman said.

“It’s a matter of being a little sensitive to the potential for violence. We don’t want to do anything to accentuate the possibility for violence,” he said. “We’re just trying to be sensitive to the situation in our city.”

The changes are only being made to print advertising, not the movie’s poster, Friedman said.

Writer-director James Harris agreed with the changes. This is “not a movie that would incite riots,” he said, but the “ads have that look about them . . . some one out there with a gun in their hand looking to blow people away.”

Harris said taking the gun out of the ads was responsible to avoid possible misinterpretation. In addition to seeming to advocate violence, he said, the old ad could appear to show a vengeful cop ready to resort to violence.

“The intent of the picture is not to make a purely revenge-seeking law enforcement officer out to use any means necessary to get even. It’s really about that fine line that lies between cops and robbers,” Harris said.