The director went on to explain, “You know, Kate is who she is and I love the relationship between Kate and Melissa’s characters”.
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Ghostbusters won’t be shown in China, according to reports in both EW and The Hollywood Reporter.
There are rumours that the country feels it’s simply not for them: “Most of the Chinese audience didn’t see the first and second movies, so they don’t think there’s much market for it here”, an unnamed movie executive said.
The paper noted that official Chinese censorship guidelines prohibit films which “promote cults or superstition”.
The Ghostbusters reboot might have been pulling in moviegoing crowds across the world – but film fans in China won’t be getting the chance to see what all the fuss is about.
A couple of people have noted that in the new take on Ghostbusters, there’s the possibility that Kate McKinnon’s character, Jillian, maybe be somewhere on the LGBT spectrum. “The reboot, however, has been reworked as ‘超能敢死队, ‘ meaning ‘Super Power Dare Die Team.'” So maybe there was some thought it was eligible, but it was ultimately rejected upon further consideration. The 1984 original (which also never saw a movie theater in China, either), was titled 捉鬼敢死队, literally translating to “Ghost Catcher Dare Die Team”.
“Ghostbusters” cost about $144 million to make, yet with expected opening weekend earnings between $38 million to $50 million, our stars should be just fine raking in money in spooky America.
Ghostbusters has been a big box office success and has received solid reviews, despite major backlash over the decision to reboot the classic with a female cast.
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The clause has been used previously to deny American films a Chinese release, most famously 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
