Fresh off its third consecutive week at the top of the North American box office comes word that Black Adam may not receive a lucrative China release.
Every year, the China Film Administration allows just 34 Foreign films to be shown theatrically, with each film forced to submit to the government appointed board before it can play in theaters over there. The finicky nature of what the board will allow can range from magic being featured in films to something as small as a Taiwan patch displayed on the arm of a jacket. Even removing the widely-discussed patch on Maverick’s jacket didn’t save Top Gun: Maverick from being banned. Of course, with $1.4 Billion worldwide, that ban probably didn’t hurt Maverick too much.
It is not uncommon for films to alter their content to appease the boards either, as Fantastic Beast: The Secrets of Dumbledore removed all references to Dumbledore’s love for another male, as any references to homosexuality are banned in the country.
It is that last point that has seen the newest MCU film: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever banned in the country as it reportedly features one of the lead characters in a relationship with a person of the same sex.
Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have had to contend with the newest releases never seeing a release in the country with the last MCU film to be released was 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home while its sequel: No Way Home was reportedly banned due to the Statue of Liberty being a major plot point.
But Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is no ordinary film, it is a sequel to the first ever superhero film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and has many people eagerly awaiting to see how the filmmakers handled the tragic passing of lead star Chadwick Boseman. The first Black Panther was able to secure a China release where it added just over $105 million to its bank account.
Alas, with the global premiere of Wakanda Forever set for November 11th in every territory except China, Warner Brother’s decided to jump on that date and release their own comic book film Black Adam. With comic book films generally big money makers in the country and a lead star in Dwayne Johnson that has seen solid box office dollars, it seemed like a decent alternative for comic book fans wanting to head to theaters.
But sometimes we underestimate just how petty some people can be as it is rumored (and we must reiterate that as of this writing, these reports are just rumors. Of course where there is smoke, there is generally fire) that these Marvel fans, eagerly anticipating the release of Wakanda Forever have bombarded the China Film Administration with reports that one of the stars of Black Adam, in this case Pierce Brosnan, had mentioned in a previous interview that he once met with the Dalai Lama.
Relations with China and Tibet have been fraught since the 50’s when the highly religious people of Tibet staged a full scale revolt against the communist ruled China with the Dalai Lama forced to flee the country. Since then any movie with even the faintest connection to Tibet or the Dalai Lama has seen the CFA ban those films with them removing all Keanu Reeves films from their streaming services after the actor appeared at a concert for Tibet.
As of this writing, Black Adam still lists a release date of November 11th in China, and the ban on both comic book films has not yet been fully confirmed, however with multiple sites reporting the news, it is only a matter of time before we see confirmation (which, if history is any indication, can simply be the film not playing in any theaters without any official word from the China Film Administration).
The ban may not affect Wakanda Forever nearly as much as it will Black Adam as that film was really relying on the China box office to get it anywhere close to its break even point, which should be between $500-600 million worldwide (Box Office Mojo has it at $319 million worldwide).
What do you make of this news? Do you think a China release of Black Adam could have been a massive success? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to check out our Weekend Box Office Report where we cover the North American box office numbers.