Deadpool Ruled as Too Hot for China
According to The Hollywood Reporter, residents of China will be out of luck if they are looking forward to seeing the upcoming Deadpool movie in theaters. The story was being circulated throughout local media in the country. The film was apparently denied permission to screen in China due its copious amounts of violence, nudity and graphic language. THR’s report also indicated that a source who is close to the China Film Group said the local media reports on Deadpool being banned in China are accurate.
Deadpool has been riding a very positive hype and ad campaign, where the film appears to be embracing the fact that it is a hard R-rated “anti-superhero” comic book movie. The highly anticipated movie stars Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson, aka the titular Deadpool, who is a foul-mouthed and self-aware mercenary/antihero. The film is scheduled for a theatrical release in the US in February. Fans have essentially been waiting for the film for close to seven years. The project was initially announced after the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine in 2009, but any results failed to materialize until now.
Regarding the film’s lack of release in China, China has no ratings system in place. As a result, the country’s media regulation is the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT). SAPPRFT makes judgement on imported films and approves or bans them for consumption by Chinese viewers. Usually, China’s censorship authorities try to work with Hollywood studios to create cleaned-up special cuts of R-rated movies. However, in Deadpool’s case, it was reportedly not possible to delete offending material without causing problems.
This could be quite the blow to the film’s international box office. Films based on Marvel comics generally garner a wide audience and perform very well at the box office in China.
20th Century Fox has not yet commented or confirmed the news of THR’s report. Deadpool arrives in theaters in the US on February 12.