A new initiative will allow UK deaf audiences to see captioned films before general release

Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Deaf audiences are being prioritized at U.K. cinemas. Paramount Pictures UK will be showing their movies with captions the day before general release, meaning deaf and hard of hearing cinemagoers across the country will be able to watch them first. The distributor is starting with the robot animation “Transformers One” on Oct. 10. Subtitled screenings of Paramount’s upcoming films, “Gladiator II,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and “The Smurfs Movie,” will follow over the next few months. Rebecca Mansell, chief executive of the British Deaf Association, called the initiative ground-breaking. She said deaf and hard of hearing audiences have been struggling to attend the few available subtitled film showings because they are often scheduled at inconvenient times.