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The Chinese government has told the primary media not to monitor Walt Disney’s launch of “Mulan,” in an order issued after the controversy over the film’s ties to the Xinjiang region erupt, another 4 people close to the case told Reuters.
Because it will open in local theaters on Friday, Disney had high hopes for Mulan in China, but depriving him of publicity in the country’s strictly censored media would be a blow to the production of $200 million.
With famous Chinese actors – Jet Li, Gong Li, Donnie Yen and Liu Yifei – and founded on a Chinese popular story, Mulan was designed to attract audiences to China, the world’s largest film market.
But the combined criticism online and capacity limits in theaters due to coronavirus prevention measures likely weighed in on his box’s performance, even before the primary media realized he was asking them to do backing vocals to cover. the movie.
Three sources said Reuters’ media had won the notice, two of which said it had been sent through China’s cyberspace administration. A fourth source of a primary Chinese newspaper said he won a text message with an order from a senior colleague.
No explanation was given in the notice, but resources said it was due to negative reactions about the film’s ties to Xinjiang.
Neither the Cyberspace Administration nor Disney responded to requests for comment.
Filmed in component in Xinjiang, Mulan’s credits included thanks to local authorities, prompting calls for a boycott of the film. .
On Wednesday, the Global Times, a tabloid spread by the People’s Daily of the ruling Communist Party, criticized the reaction to the film in an editorial of its English edition, describing it as “another manifestation of excessive ideologies about China among American public opinion. “
Disney had been working to make sure Mulan was well tested by the Chinese public, and the company’s leading monetary official told investors Wednesday that he was “very pleased” with the initial effects of its launch elsewhere.
The film was released on Disney’s broadcast service in many markets, which in theaters, due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Mulan is expected to be broadcast on more than 40% of Chinese screens on Friday, according to the knowledge of Maoyan, a ticketing platform subsidized through Tencent. Chinese cinemas have been restricting their capacity to 50% lately.
The film had sold 9. 78 million yuan ($1. 43 million) in tickets priced Thursday afternoon, or 55% of all sales of priced tickets sold in China for Friday shows.
An analyst, who refused to be identified because he said the stage was complicated, predicted that the film would gain 150 million yuan at the continent’s box offices, given initial public criticism.
The film, which many have already noticed online, scored 4. 7 out of 10 on the popular social network Douban, where users leave reviews of movies, books and music.
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