The China premiere of the latest installment of the movie franchise "The Hunger Games" has been cancelled. Chinese fans looking forward to the opening night of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" on Nov. 21 will have to wait until the movie obtains the go signal from the state.
Prior to the cancellation, the film was set to have a simultaneous international screening. Hence, the theater opening date would have been the same as that in the United States. In addition, an Asian press tour had been scheduled. The tour would have included a stop in Seoul and Beijing. However, China's censoring board have declared the premiere of the film to be indefinitely cancelled.
On the other hand, speculators are claiming that "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" has not be banned. Instead, the film's premiere has only been postponed. Sources disclosed that the movie may be up for an early January 2015 screening.
Both "The Hunger Games" and "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" had been allowed uncut releases by the Chinese censors. China Times published a report claiming that the censorship decision to postpone "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" could be due to the film's political theme that glorifies acts of rebellion and encourages revolution against the government. These issues may ignite more political tensions in the already fragile state of the country's relationship with the people.
This decision may cause the film to incur serious financial setbacks as China has been identified to be one of Hollywood's biggest markets. In failing to release the film right following its international release, Chinese fans may turn to pirated copies or illegal online streaming to view the film. In a study conducted by LEK Consultation for the Motion Picture Association, China scored 90 percent in terms of piracy rates-the highest recorded so far. This could translate to possible financial ramifications for the movie industry.
To date, no official statement has been released by Lionsgate, the movie's production company. Chinese officials handling the censorship of certain films have yet to provide an explanation as well.
