MUMBAI: After a five-month drought caused by a standoff over the country‘s tax on imported films, Hollywood films are set to return to Indonesian screens, with the final Harry Potter.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is being imported by a newly established local company and will be released before Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month that begins on 1 August," said Djonny Sjafruddin, head of the Indonesian Cinema Companies Union.
The debut of Harry Potter and the other movies is made possible by the recent establishment of a new film importer, PT Omega Film, Sjarifuddin revealed. He however declined to give an exact release date.
"All things such as censorship and subtitles have already been finished," Sjafruddin said. "We need some 90 copies and they are now under process."
He also announced that Transformers 3 and Kung Fu Panda 2 would be released in the next few weeks.
The announcement signals relief for moviegoers forced for months to make do with local productions and second-tier foreign releases because of the protracted dispute between studios, film importers and the government.
In February, six major Hollywood studios withdrew films from Indonesia, a Muslim-majority nation of 237 million people, in opposition to a new levy on imported movies that was meant to protect local filmmakers.
Last month the government announced a revised tax it said would bring back Hollywood movies, but their return had been blocked by another dispute.