Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/BEIJING: Fans in China rejoice as Marvel movies return to the Chinese box office after almost four years.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be released on February 7 and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania two weeks later. Since “Spider-Man: Far from Home” opened in Chinese theatres in July 2019, these will be the first Marvel movies to be screened.
It was never explained by the Chinese officials why they had blocked Marvel movies from screening in China. But the apparent ban began when tensions between China and the US reached a high amid a trade war.
Marvel also gave no reason for the turnaround in its brief announcement on the Chinese social media network Weibo on Wednesday about the film’s release dates.
Chinese Cinema Lovers Rejoice over Marvel films
But cinema lovers were still in a frenzy over it. One user remarked, “I feel like I’m dreaming,” and another shouted, “I have missed you so much.” One fan asked, “Can you also re-release Doctor Strange and Spider-Man?” about films released during the break but never made it to China’s theatres.
Disney might have lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to the Chinese market’s decline in recent years. According to Box Office Mojo, the first Black Panther film in 2018 made US$105 million (£86 million) in Chinese theatres, while the second Ant-Man film made $121 million in the same country.
There is strict regulation over international film screenings in China, with an annual quota. The China Film Administration, a section of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) propaganda bureau, chooses whether or not a foreign film can be shown in China.
Disney has previously turned down demands to modify films like Doctor Strange, Multiverse of Madness, and Eternals to remove references to same-sex relationships from some nations, including China.
