Plans by a Texas theatre to host women-only screenings of the action movie 'Wonder Woman' have unleashed an outpouring of complaints about discrimination and sexism.
The superhero movie opens in theatres in the US and South Africa next week, and the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, Texas, scheduled two women-only nights for a few days later.
"Apologies, gentlemen, but we're embracing our girl power and saying, 'No Guys Allowed'," the cinema wrote on its website.
The movie, starring Gal Gadot, is based on a comic book character introduced in 1941, fighting villains, rescuing victims and unearthing evil plots.
"How about a 'men's only' showing of a movie or is that not how equality works?" someone wrote on the cinema chain's Austin Facebook page, where 1,000-plus people left comments.
The popularity of the women-only shows, which quickly sold out, prompted the chain to add similar screenings in New York.
"This has zip to do with equality. This is a celebration of a character that's meant a great deal to many women," the theatre said on Facebook.
The movie triggered controversy last year when the character of Wonder Woman was chosen as an honorary UN ambassador to fight for gender equality.
Tens of thousands of people signed an online petition, saying the character was an inappropriate choice
The UN abruptly ended the character's role two months into her appointment.
The US premiere of the movie went ahead on Thursday with extra security in Los Angeles, including bomb sniffer dogs, after the cancellation of the film's London event following the bombing in Manchester.
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