MCLC: Despicable Me 2 blocked

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at me.com>
Subject: Despicable Me 2 blocked
****************************************************

Source: The Guardian
(7/24/13):http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jul/24/despicable-me-2-blocke
d-china-s
murfs-2

Despicable Me 2 blocked by Chinese censor, but Smurfs sequel approved
By Xan Brooks

Hollywood studios take note: to crack the lucrative Chinese market, it may
help if your films star smurfs instead of zombies. Reformed cartoon
supervillains, it should be added, are also a hazard to censorship.

This week, Chinese authorities gave the green light to Sony Pictures's 3D
comedy The Smurfs 2 for domestic distribution, while previously rejecting
the Brad Pitt zombie thriller World War Z and the animated film Despicable
Me 2, in which Steve Carell plays a former villain. The original Smurfs
film was a hit with Chinese audiences, earning $40m on its release in 2011.

It remains to be seen if the sequel will equal that haul. While Sony's
film appears to have cleared domestic censors, its distribution has yet to
be formalised. Variety reports that the Chinese government has previously
reversed its decisions without explanation.

Even if The Smurfs 2 is released, its fate is by no means assured. Last
April, the state-run China Film Group Corporation ordered Django
Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's blood-soaked western, to be immediately
pulled from Chinese cinemas. Earlier this year, the science fiction epic
Cloud Atlas was  approved for distribution only after a reported 40
minutes of love scenes were cut.

The Smurfs 2 will be released, uncut, in the US and UK on 31 July, and in
Australia on 12 September.



Paul Mooney