Why So Serious PRC?

Warner Brothers has announced that there will not be a theatrical release of The Dark Knight in PRC. In a statement on Tuesday, the studio noted:

“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.”

Fortunately for me, Hong Kong, where some of the objectionable content was filmed, enjoyed a theatrical release of TDK back in July and the DVD release arrived in time for Christmas. (Much to my delight, a two-disc special edition box set - Joker cover of course - made it into my Christmas stocking.)

Given the prevalence of piracy, I'm staggered that PRC continues to have such strict censorship restrictions (it still allows only 20 foreign films to be released each year). That said, the absence of an official release is unlikely to have prevented many people in PRC from seeing the film. I'm sure a number of Christmas stocking in PRC contained bootleg copies of TDK this year.

(/Film)