Last year, the Gothic horror-romance Crimson Peak went without a Chinese release due to the appearance of creepy, drippy specters throughout the film. Movies that depict the spirits of the dead are considered unsuitable for all audiences by S.A.R.F.T. and are therefore banned from official distribution across China. Though “Ghostbusters” hasn’t officially been screened for Chinese officials, its subject matter will likely run afoul of the country’s censors, according to an insider.
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Whether or not Ghostbusters is going to be released in China is still up for debate.
With the Ghostbusters reboot not being released in China its fate is in the hands of western audiences, most of which will have witnessed some of the needless social politics surrounding this movie. But Sony says it hasn’t formally submitted the film to the China board that approves foreign films for screening in the country.
Paul Feig’s Ghostbusters reboot has been enjoying generally decent/good reviews (you can check out ours here), and looks set for a very respectable opening weekend at the US box office – but THR is reporting on some news that might just put a dampener on the positivity parade. “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”. The Chinese box office saw huge draws for Zootopia ($235.5 million), Warcraft ($221 million) and Captain America: Civil War ($190.4 milion), so Sony is definitely missing out.
That tweaks slightly the Chinese title of the 1984 original, which translated as Ghost Catcher Dare Die Team.
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The actor also said that misogynist comments against the new all-female Ghostbusters team of actors Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon were a step backwards in the fight for gender equality in the film industry.
