China has decided to ban the release of the latest Ghostbusters movie based on superstitious standards.
We've finally arrived to the release of Paul Feig's take on 'Ghostbusters'. The movie, which releases this weekend, has undergone a litany of criticism, primarily due to its cast of female paranormal investigators. While early reviews appear to be surprisingly positive, there are still those against the film's release, not just from a fan perspective, but from skeptical countries outside the US.
A recent report says that the country of China will be opting out of showcasing the film nationwide. The decision came, not as a result of some geo-political rationale, but rather something as simple as their own standards and practices. As it turns out, they feel the movie violates their cinematic codes of conduct, saying it promotes "cults and superstition". There was some specualtion as to what China had in mind for the release considering they had removed the word "ghost" from the title, changing it from 'Ghostbusters' to 'Super Power Dare Die Team'.
The Chinese film market is the second largest after the US. Its hard to tell how this will impact the global sales figures at the box office, but so far, its been doing pretty well domestically and seems to be garnering some positive reinforcement, contrary to popular belief.
Ghostbusters release July 15th!