James Cameron’s Avatar 2 Just as a devastating wave of COVID-19 infections was engulfing the country, it had the bad luck of opening in China, the world’s second-largest film market. rice field.
Beijing’s film regulator on Tuesday granted the Disney bigwig a rare release extension to run on Chinese screens for another 30 days, two Beijing sources with knowledge of the decision say. Hollywood Reporter.
China’s film import system allows foreign films to be screened in the country for a 30-day block period. Avatar 2 The original release was due to expire on January 15th, as it was released in China in North America on December 16th. The film made just under $200 million in the country, Hollywood’s best local performance during the pandemic. , but due to the ongoing COVID outbreak, it is well below initial projections.
Avatar 2 With the release of a number of high-profile Chinese big events on January 22nd, the first day of the week-long Chinese New Year holiday period, screen share will undoubtedly plummet.The hottest of the new batch of Chinese candidates is wandering earth 2is the sequel to China’s first domestic sci-fi blockbuster that earned $700 million in 2019. But even if Cameron’s epic manages to keep a fraction of China’s giant film exhibition spending during the holidays, it could generate tens of millions in additional ticket revenue. An insider said. The film boasts a very high social score among Chinese audiences: 9.1/10 on Mooyan and Taopiaopiao, and 8/10 on the influential review page Douban.Cameron’s event movie has a good reputation for building It has a reputation for being slow and long-lasting.
Film officials in Beijing contacted THR On Tuesday, they said they were shocked by the delayed call from the film bureau. Avatar 2 additional time. Although Hollywood movie releases are sometimes extended, Beijing typically blocks all foreign film screenings on important Chinese national holidays, giving domestic industries free reign over box office revenues. Hollywood has long protested “blackouts” of such releases as being anti-competitive and contrary to China’s World Trade Organization obligations, but always to no avail.
“It’s a strange decision,” said one exhibition executive when asked about the percentage of screen sharing. Avatar 2 It is expected to be held during the holidays. “I don’t know,” they added.
A representative for Disney in Asia confirmed the release extension on Tuesday night.
