Warner Bros blacks out Dark Knight from China
30 December 2008 | 
Author: doctor |
Reuters, December 25 2008
The Warner Bros studio said on Wednesday it has canceled plans to release its blockbuster Batman movie "The Dark Knight" in China, citing "cultural sensitivities" surrounding the film.
The studio, a unit of Time Warner Inc, did not specify what Chinese audiences or censors might find objectionable about the movie.
"Based on a number of pre-release conditions that are being attached to ’The Dark Knight,’ as well as cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film, we have opted to forego a theatrical release of the film in China," Warner Bros said in a statement.
The film includes a sequence in which Batman, the movie’s comic book superhero played by Christian Bale, penetrates a criminal mastermind’s skyscraper redoubt in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong.
"The Dark Knight," which was released in July, is the top-grossing film of the year with more than $996 million in worldwide ticket sales, including over $7.5 million in Hong Kong, according to the website Box Office Mojo.
The film also has earned the late Australian actor Heath Ledger a Golden Globe nomination for his final role as Batman’s maniacally evil foe, the Joker.
Dark Knight won’t be on big screen in China
CBC, December 26 2008
Movie buffs in China won’t be able to see the blockbuster Batman film The Dark Knight on the big screen.
Citing "cultural sensitivities in some elements of the film," Warner Bros. said in a statement on Friday that it has cancelled the release of the 2008 hit in mainland China.
It did not elaborate on what it meant by "cultural sensitivities," but the New York Times speculated that the Hollywood studio may have been concerned Chinese censors would be offended by scenes shot in Hong Kong, including those in which Batman, played by Christian Bale, nabs a Chinese money launderer.
Another potential point of conflict, it noted, was a brief appearance by Edison Chen, the Hong Kong singer and record producer who appeared in sexually explicit photographs posted on the internet in 2008.
The studio did not present the film to Chinese government censors for their consideration.
But pirated copies of the movie have been available in China for months.
(original link)
THE DOCTOR: Interesting to note that Brokeback Mountain, also co-starring Illuminati-baby Heath Ledger, was banned in China as well.
One would think a country such as China would have better things to do than to see to it that their citizens do not see certain movies.
