Warner Bros skips China release for 'Dark Knight'

Warner Bros skips China release for 'Dark Knight'
Tuesday 23rd December, 11:28 PM JST

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Hollywood blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” which sees Batman venturing to Hong Kong to capture a Chinese criminal, won’t be getting an official release in China.

Warner Bros. said in a statement Tuesday it decided not to release the film in China because of “prerelease conditions” and “cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film.”

A spokeswoman for the Hollywood studio declined to elaborate.

Warner Bros officials may have been concerned the film—particularly the scenes shot in Hong Kong—would offend censors wary of the way Chinese are portrayed on screen. Hong Kong is a Chinese-ruled former British colony that maintains separate political and economic systems from the mainland.

Another possible sticking point is a brief appearance in the film by Hong Kong actor-singer Edison Chen, who saw his image tarnished earlier this year by the release of photos showing him and several women performing sexual acts.

The spokeswoman, who declined to be named in line with company policy, said Warner Bros did not even submit the movie to Chinese censors for approval.

The Chinese movie market, while growing, is still small compared to the U.S. market. A movie that makes $15 million in China is considered a hit.

By comparison, “The Dark Knight” raked in $531 million in the U.S. this year, according to figures compiled by the box office tracking website Box Office Mojo.

The movie—which stars Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger—will be this year’s box office champion in the U.S., beating second-place “Iron Man” by more than $200 million.

China has blocked other Hollywood movies for political reasons. The 2005 film “Memoirs of a Geisha” was not released apparently because the sight of Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li portraying Japanese entertainers would offend mainland viewers.

Even when barred from the mainland’s cinemas, pirated copies of Hollywood films can easily be found on the streets of most of China’s cities.

Bootleg copies of “The Dark Knight” have been available in Chinese markets for months.