VOLCANO GROUNDS MOVIE BIZ

Uncertainty over the continued intensity of the Iceland volcano has caused studio executives to prepare contingency plans for the eventuality that air travel to Europe is severely disrupted or remains halted for a lengthy period. Already Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment have announced that they will move next Monday’s premiere of Iron Man 2 from London to Los Angeles. The air-traffic snarl grounded singer-actress Miley Cyrus, who was to have appeared at the London premiere of The Last Song tonight (Tuesday). Across the Atlantic, many filmmakers who had planned to arrive in New York early this week to attend the presentation of their films at the Tribeca Film Festival beginning Wednesday, are instead monitoring news reports to determine whether they’ll be able to attend at all. Even the Cannes Film Festival, which does not get underway until May 12, could be affected if the volcano continues erupting at anything close to full strength. (Some reports have suggested that it could be months before it is safe to fly over Europe again.) Even a few more days of disruption could produce airline bottlenecks as stranded passengers and passengers with reservations on future flights vie for seats.