Flashback Friday: Arnold joins Exchange associates for a movie premiere in Bosnia
The first installment of the Exchange Post’s #FlashbackFriday series takes us back to 2002, when Exchange associates in Bosnia got to see the world premiere of a movie, accompanied by that movie’s big star.
Big in more ways than one – the star was Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was part of a USO entertainment tour in early 2002, visiting troops in Bosnia. One of his stops was Camp Tuzla, where Exchange associates were treated to the world premiere of “Collateral Damage,” with Schwarzenegger present at the screening.
World events led to a release delay for the movie, which features Schwarzenegger as a Los Angeles firefighter out for vengeance after his wife and child were killed in a terrorist attack. Originally scheduled for an October 2001 release, it was postponed because of concerns that it would be too insensitive to release it so soon after the 9/11 attacks.
Its official release was in February 2002. The next year, Schwarzenegger would add a non-movie role to his résumé: Governor of California.
World events also affected the movie industry during the past 15 months or so, with the COVID-19 pandemic leading to delayed releases and closed theaters, including Exchange theaters worldwide. Some theaters have reopened in CONUS and the Pacific, as well as in Europe/Southwest Asia, where all theaters are expected to be open in July.
Because of partnerships with Disney, Sony, Paramount and Lionsgate, the Exchange shows first-run movies in all overseas theaters and select CONUS theaters. As early as the 1998 Christmas holidays, the Exchange worked with studios to show first-run movies to troops in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bosnia.
