When police arrived at the Premiere Theatre, they found 21-year-old Christopher Sides with his face painted like the Joker from the Batman movies and his hair dyed pink.
They discovered a warrant for his arrest for failure to appear on a previous misdemeanor charge and took him into custody, police said.
The incident caused extra concern because of the July shooting at a Colorado movie theatre in which suspect James Holmes, with his hair dyed various shades of orange, identified himself to police as the Joker. The shooting happened at the premiere of the latest Batman movie and left 12 people dead.
Melbourne Police said a caller first reported the man at 10:34 a.m. Wednesday, saying he was pacing back and forth in front of and then inside the theater.
Police said they found Sides as he was exiting the theater. They said he made no threats while he was there and cooperated while being arrested.
