MUMBAI: While China‘s Communist Party continues to celebrate, both in a nationwide propaganda blitz with Beginning of the Great Revival, the propaganda epic that marks the 90th anniversary of China‘s Communist Party, Hollywood‘s biggest summer releases Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 and Zookeeper have been kept on hold.
All the three films have been slotted for release in the later part of July.The delay in the release of Transformers has stunned film observers considering that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, was China‘s all-time box office hit for a short period in 2009 after it earned an estimated $59 million after which Cameron’s Avatar edged it out.
Kung Fu Panda 2 had already been in Chinese cinemas for 37 days and raked in an impressive $94 million, according to figures from Chinese entertainment research firm EntGroup.
While cinemas showing Revival have been flooded with screenings, Hollywood blockbusters have been banned and offices and schools have been encouraged to buy tickets in bulk. The film has grossed $49 million in its first 19 days. The film was screened 64,393 times last week, compared to 26,254 times for Kung Fu Panda 2.