Across the globe this week Jason Bourne expands its territories to 63 countries on release, including China now, and goes to the top of the global box office.
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All this negative attention does seem to have hurt “Jason Bourne” at the box office, with the film dropping 36% on Wednesday, China Film Insider reports.
In fact, those who felt sickened by the 3D “Bourne” actually made a decision to do something about and launched a protest, reports the Global Times website. But Chinese moviegoers soon took to the internet to complain about the film’s 3D effects, which made them feel dizzy and uncomfortable.
General audiences aren’t staying quiet about their displeasure either. And they are now scrambling to get more 2D versions of the film to China, according to Deadline.
Many Hollywood films have been converted to 3D especially for Chinese audiences including “2012” and “Furious 7” but critics believe “Jason Bourne” was the wrong choice for 3D conversion because of director Paul Greengrass’ style, which includes shooting with handheld cameras and frenetic editing. And those 2D versions of the movie are said to be located far way from the main hub of the city.
Chinese distributors are more apt to release a film in that country in 3D because it helps keep pirates at bay.
When it comes to 3D movies, however, there are two kinds.
Many of those who wanted to see the film in old-fashioned 2D couldn’t actually do so, as it was hard to find a cinema showing it that way.
Avatar sparked a 3D craze in China, as it did in much of the rest of the world, and the film industry has been happy to oblige the demand for more 3D movies.
Unlike in the United Kingdom, where films are shown in 2D throughout the country, over 80% of cinema screens in China (roughly 37,000-39,000) are equipped with 3D technology (the majority of cinemas were only built in the last decade).
What makes this a particularly bitter pill to swallow, is that these Chinese filmgoers appear to have very little alternative in the matter.
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China’s branch of Universal Pictures addressed the backlash with a statement on Weibo, saying they are working to offer more 2D screenings to meet audiences’ “diversified movie-going needs”.
