China is the most populous country in the world and is ranked number two among film markets, so there’s a lot of money at stake.
Advertisement
Since THR posted its story, Deadline reported that Sony has yet to submit “Ghostbusters” for consideration in China, but plans to in the coming weeks.
With Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters starring Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon hitting American theaters this weekend, it only makes sense that China also gets a piece of that pie.
There are three different reports floating around centering on the news.
Sony, the studio behind the all-female reboot, has learned that the movie has been denied a release in China, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Chinese censorship guidelines prevent any films that “promote cults or superstition”, and occasionally regulators will ban films that depict ghosts or supernatural beings in a realistic way, the Hollywood Reporter said. Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was also banned in 2006.
Although Sony hasn’t commented on the ruling – the studio hasn’t received official word from the Chinese government over whether certain scenes in the film would even be approved – one source told the magazine that the studio wasn’t anxious about it. The proof for this fear can be found in a change to the Chinese title for the film. “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”.
Those cultural taboos may cost the film a lucrative release in the Chinese market, the second biggest film market in the world. Here in the US, the film is going through its own set of problems. The “Ghostbros” movement is intent on seeing the film bomb, despite the mixed to positive reviews it is now getting.
Advertisement
Ghostbusters isn’t the first high-profile movie of the year not to be released in China – with Deadpool being banned there on account of its graphic violence. However, given that the film hasn’t officially been approved by Chinese regulators, and the opaque nature of the country’s regulations, there’s no way to tell for sure exactly what the reasoning is behind the move. In any case, it sounds like there’s a real chance Ghostbusters will never open in China.
