The suburban Denver movie theater where 12 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Batman film last summer reopened on Thursday for a private "night of remembrance" and a screening of The Hobbit for survivors and others connected to the tragedy.

The event, held just shy of six months after the massacre, was not heavily attended despite a personal welcome from Colorado's governor and offers of free movie passes and popcorn.

The owners of the theater, Cinemark USA, had invited some 2,000 guests, mostly moviegoers who lived through the shooting and relatives of those killed, along with police, firefighters and other emergency personnel who responded to the crime scene.