China cancels “Django Unchained” premiere
The film would have been Tarantino's first commercial release in the country
Topics: django unchained, China, Censorship, Movies, Film, Quentin Tarantino, Entertainment News
Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” was set to premiere in China on Thursday, marking the director’s first film with a commercial release in China–except that Chinese censors have pulled the movie from theaters.
Deadline first reported the news, which caught Sony Pictures off-guard:
The studio which is releasing the blockbuster film internationally was caught by surprise, prompting studio spokesman Steve Elzer to tell me tonight: “We regret that Django Unchained has been removed from theaters and are working with the Chinese authorities to determine whether the film can be rescheduled.” In some cinemas, screenings were stopped after one minute of footage was shown “because of technical reasons … for the time being,” according to a notice distributed to cinema companies. It quoted unnamed industry insiders as saying that nudity prompted the sudden cancellations despite its official pre-release review.
Despite the nudity, the cancellation has puzzled executives since it comes after the movie had been edited to comply with notoriously stringent Chinese censorship regulations.
Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.
More Related Stories
-
The persistence of Carson Daly: How an MTV personality became face of "The Voice"
-
Pick of the week: I was a teenage anarchist!
-
Send her your sexts
-
Lil Wayne responds to family of Emmett Till over offensive lyric
-
Steven Spielberg to direct "American Sniper" film adaptation
-
"The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult
-
Google Earth as art
-
"Iron Man 3" box office hit in China
-
"Iron Man 3": A playboy grows up
-
Reese Witherspoon on arrest: "I literally panicked"
-
Listen to the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann's "Great Gatsby"
-
Spice Girls musical closing in June
-
Performers announced for Billboard Awards
-
Must-see morning clip: Colbert on over-the-counter Plan B
-
Chris Kelly of rap group Kris Kross dies at 34
-
"The Americans'" creators discuss the season finale
-
"Mad Men" recapped via Facebook updates
-
Salman Rushdie: Artists are more vulnerable than ever
-
Tale of lost Vietnam vet reunited with family in "Unclaimed" deemed false
-
John Oliver to guest-host "Daily Show" starting June 10
-
"Downton Abbey" casts first black character
Featured Slide Shows
The week in 10 pics
close X-
This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
Reuters/Jason Reed -
Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
AP/A.M. Ahad -
Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
AP/Elise Amendola -
Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani -
Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
AP/Manish Swarup -
Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
AP/Jeff Roberson -
Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel -
Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
AP/Liu Yinghua -
On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
AP/Rogelio V. Solis -
The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
AP/David J. Phillip -
Recent Slide Shows
-
The week in 10 pics
-
"Arrested Development" character posters
-
Photos of the Boston manhunt
-
Newspaper headlines covering the Boston explosion
-
Most Read
-
71 names so awful New Zealand had to ban them
-
"This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann"
-
He made me his drug mule
-
Ted Cruz will never be president
-
Claire Messud to Publishers Weekly: "What kind of question is that?"
-
Pictures of people who mock me
-
Is Michael Pollan a sexist pig?
-
How conspiracists think
-
Bush cancels Europe trip amid calls for his arrest
-
"Star Trek's" Wil Wheaton tells newborn girl why being a nerd "is awesome"
Popular on Reddit
links from salon.com
Jessica Zaleski: Somebody Wants To Get Married
Slayer Guitarist Dies At Age 49
Lori Joffs: Moviefone's Summer Sequel Smackdown: Defending the Twilight Sequels
Meet Your 'American Idol' Top 3
Comments
1 Comments