America’s second largest cinema chain has refused to screen The Aristocrats – the film featuring a string of famous comedians telling the world’s dirtiest joke.

The movie – which features the likes of Eddie Izzard, Chris Rock, Robin Williams and Billy Connolly – has not been rated by US censors, which means cinemas have no guidance about its suitability for audiences.

A spokesman for the AMC chain – which has more than 3,500 screens nationwide - confirmed they would not be screening the movie, implying they did not think it would attract big enough audiences: ‘We've made a business decision,’ he said.

However Jeff Sackman, president of distributors ThinkFilm, accused AMC of censorship.

‘The real problem is somebody is deciding on a personal basis what's appropriate and what isn't,’ he told news agency Reuters.

Magician Penn Jillette, who shot the film with comedian Paul Provenza, pictured, added: ‘At least it's showing that words have power, and we haven't had that statement made in a while.

‘[But] we are not martyrs on this.  For us to make any sort of statement that our artistic expression is being trounced would be self-serving, unpleasant and not true.’

The film features around 100 comedians telling variations of the same joke, each trying to outdo each other for bad taste.

It will open in New York and Los Angeles on July 29, then rolled out to some other cinemas on August 12, and will be shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 23 and 25.

Watch a trailer for the film here.