Cinema Release of Patriotic Chinese Film Canceled

By Tom Lamming, June 26, 2019

News of the cancellation of its China cinema release comes as another blow to war film The Eight Hundred, which was produced by Huayi Brothers.

Pulled from its prestigious spot as the opener at the Shanghai International Film Festival just weeks ago, the USD80 million budget film, directed by Guan Hu, announced on Tuesday that it will not go ahead with its intended July 5 China premiere date.

The film tells the true story of how a band of Chinese soldiers heroically attempted to hold off Japanese soldiers in 1937.

The film made a statement on its official Weibo account, which reads: “after consultation between the production team and other entities, The Eight Hundred will cancel its original July 5 premiere and temporarily vacate the summer release date window. The new release date will be announced at a later time.”

The Eight Hundred was expected to be a landmark release for the Chinese film industry and was one of the most anticipated films of the summer. It was the first Chinese film shot entirely with IMAX digital cameras and features an all-star cast.

During the Cannes Film Festival in May, the film found buyers in a number of overseas territories. Notably, CMC Pictures picked up the rights to show the film in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand from July 5 onwards, in coordination with the China release.

According to a spokesman from CMC, "after consultation with the film parties, the release of the movie The Eight Hundred in North America, Australia and New Zealand will be synchronized with China, a new release slot will be announced at a later date."

[Cover image courtesy of Pixabay]