Two superhero movies from two different franchises are possibly facing a huge dip in global revenue with rumors of getting banned in China. DCEU’s Black Adam and MCU’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are both not likely to be released in China due to different reasons. With the two movies getting millions at the box office, their total worldwide gross may be shortened due to China’s disapproval of these films.
Black Adam
The film is getting banned not because of the main actor, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, but maybe because of another cast member – Pierce Brosnan.
Pierce Brosnan portrays one of the lead characters in the movie as Doctor Fate. The reason why the film will not hit China’s theaters is not because of the plot of the movie nor the character Brosnan plays, but for another reason. According to various reports, the premiered actor recently shared a photo of himself and his family together with the Dalai Lama.
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The now 21-year-old photo may look harmless, but in China, it is very offensive. Only known to few, China associates the Dalai Lama as a separatist. Because of this, Black Adam‘s hope of adding more millions to their current threshold may be halted. As of today, Black Adam has a worldwide collection of more than $350 Million.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
China has continuously controlled foreign movies from entering their local movie theaters as part of its initiatives. However, this is not the case for the latest Black Panther movie.
Related: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever characters set to return in MCU’s Phase 5 and 6
The reason why the ban on this movie is inevitable is because of a scene that features the same-sex relationship between two female Wakandan warriors namely Ayo (Florence Kasumba) and Aneka (Michaela Coel). Due to this obvious reason, Beijing regulators may stop Black Panther 2 from ever hitting the big screen in China. Just this year, two MCU movies were also banned in the country due to representations of the LGBTQ+ community which China hasn’t accepted in their culture yet. These films are Thor: Love and Thunder and The Eternals.
China’s ban/censorship culture
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is mainly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Their basis behind censoring or banning almost anything known to men goes from political reasons, cultural beliefs, and others. They are also known to control the contents of their media, especially everything from the internet.
Fun fact: Did you know that a lot of Western social media apps and platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube are banned in China?
Could this be true? If yes, how huge could this affect these movies’ total revenue worldwide? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us, here at Spiel Times.
OTHER NEWS: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever characters set to return in MCU’s Phase 5 and 6
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