China OKs new James Bond movie for November release
10/15/2008 | 05:05 PM
HONG KONG – Chinese officials have cleared the latest James Bond movie for release in November, giving it one of the last slots in the country's annual quota of 20 revenue-sharing film imports, a film executive said Wednesday.
Chinese censors did not ask for any cuts to Quantum of Solace, Sony Pictures Releasing International Vice President Li Chow told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Sony plans to give the film a wide release on more than 1,000 screens on November 5, days after its global rollout begins on October 31, Li said. China has just over 3,500 screens.
Li said the 22nd installment in the Bond series, starring Daniel Craig, will be one of the last revenue-sharing movies China imports this year.
China also imports films by paying flat fees for distribution rights, but Hollywood studios prefer the revenue-sharing model because it generates better revenues if the movie performs well at the box office.
The Chinese news Web site Sina.com reported Wednesday that Quantum of Solace and the US-France sci-fi thriller Babylon A.D. are the year's last two imports, shutting out the hit Batman film The Dark Knight.
The report did not identify its sources.
Calls to a spokesman for state-run film importer China Film Group went unanswered.
A Warner Bros. official did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the status of The Dark Knight. The film was released in the US in July and went on to become a huge hit, raking in nearly $530 million in North America.
Among the other major Hollywood releases in China this year were The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Kung Fu Panda, The Golden Compass, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and 10,000 BC." - AP
Chinese censors did not ask for any cuts to Quantum of Solace, Sony Pictures Releasing International Vice President Li Chow told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Sony plans to give the film a wide release on more than 1,000 screens on November 5, days after its global rollout begins on October 31, Li said. China has just over 3,500 screens.
Li said the 22nd installment in the Bond series, starring Daniel Craig, will be one of the last revenue-sharing movies China imports this year.
China also imports films by paying flat fees for distribution rights, but Hollywood studios prefer the revenue-sharing model because it generates better revenues if the movie performs well at the box office.
The Chinese news Web site Sina.com reported Wednesday that Quantum of Solace and the US-France sci-fi thriller Babylon A.D. are the year's last two imports, shutting out the hit Batman film The Dark Knight.
The report did not identify its sources.
Calls to a spokesman for state-run film importer China Film Group went unanswered.
A Warner Bros. official did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on the status of The Dark Knight. The film was released in the US in July and went on to become a huge hit, raking in nearly $530 million in North America.
Among the other major Hollywood releases in China this year were The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Kung Fu Panda, The Golden Compass, National Treasure: Book of Secrets and 10,000 BC." - AP
