China Has Turned Its Back on Hollywood. What Does That Mean for ‘Uncharted’ and Other New Movies?
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSony executives breathed a sigh of relief when “Uncharted,” a big-budget adaptation of the popular video game, secured a release date in China.The Chinese government, which has absolute control over which movies play in its theaters (and when they debut), has recently been ultra-selective about the non-Chinese films it allows to screen in the country’s tens of thousands of venues.
As a result, many of Hollywood’s biggest pandemic-era releases, such as “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Eternals,” weren’t granted access to Chinese movie theaters.
That absence has wound up costing those movies tens — and in some cases hundreds — of millions of dollars in box office revenues. “Getting any blockbuster into China right now feels like a big deal,” says Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations.But just because “Uncharted” is set to open in China on March 14 does not mean the film is destined to succeed there.
In an alternate timeline, an action-adventure like “Uncharted,” which stars “Spider-Man” actor Tom Holland as treasure hunter Nathan Drake, would have likely minted money in China.
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