China is keeping the door open for Hollywood movies, even with the ongoing trade dispute with the US.
Walt Disney Co. won Beijing’s approval to release a live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and Pixar’s animated feature Elio in Chinese theaters, according to people familiar with the matter. A third Disney movie, the Thunderbolts* superhero film from Marvel, opens in the country on Wednesday.
How to Train Your Dragon, from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, also won approval from the government-backed company that sanctions movies, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing nonpublic information. The studio expects to confirm a release date in the coming weeks.
The approvals suggest that, as major studios prepare to release their big-budget summer pictures, there’s been no measurable pullback as a result of the trade tensions. China’s government said earlier this month it will “moderately reduce” the number of US pictures allowed in the country in response to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. recently submitted the car-racing movie F1 for approval, while Paramount Global is also seeking release in China for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, the people said.
The China Film Administration didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The four studios declined to comment.
Rich Gelfond, chief executive officer of Imax Corp., which counts China as the largest market for its big-screen technology, said in an interview Monday with Bloomberg TV “there’s a false narrative” that major Hollywood releases would be curtailed by the trade dispute. He previously said China’s curbs are likely to target low-budget titles with little potential to become blockbusters.
China is the second-largest theatrical market globally, trailing only the US.
Although the popularity of Hollywood productions in China has waned in recent years — with audiences favoring local-language blockbusters such as the February release Ne Zha 2 — the country can still drive significant sales. About 10% of the international opening weekend box-office sales for A Minecraft Movie, Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, came from China.
How to Train Your Dragon, expected for US release in June, is a live-action remake of an animated film of the same name. The 2010 original grossed $494.9 million worldwide. A sequel to the remake is in development and is due to be released in 2027, Universal said at an industry event in April.
The Final Reckoning is the eighth film in the Mission: Impossible franchise, which has grossed more than $4 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
F1, a movie about Formula One car-racing, is being distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. on behalf of producer Apple Inc.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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