Ghostbusters (2016): 10 Things You Didn’t Know
By Jeremy Dick
Ghostbusters (Columbia/Sony)
6. The film won’t be available in China
International ticket sales can be very helpful when it comes to maximizing profits for production studios when it comes to releasing big budget movies. That should be especially true for Ghostbusters, which failed to earn its budget back domestically through ticket sales. But, unfortunately, they’ll lose a good chunk of that market by not being able to release the film in China.
The bad news became official when it was announced that the reboot would be banned in China. It faced two major problems when it came to getting released there, starting with the fact that it heavily features ghosts. Apparently China has censorship guidelines prohibiting films that promote “superstition”, and it looks like that includes fictional ghosts. Even gluttonous green ones and marshmallow men.
The other big issue is that there just might not be a big market for Ghostbusters in China, as the prior films don’t really have a following there and many Chinese have never even seen them. Whether the censorship issue or the lack of popularity for the franchise there is what’s responsible for no Ghostbusters film in China, it doesn’t look like they’ll be giving the Ghostbusters a call anytime soon.
Next: Boycotting the film immediately?