Oh China, you lucky nation — first you get the People’s Revolution, then the Great Leap Forward, and now comes word that, on May 3, you’ll get "Spider-Man 3" a full day before it debuts in North America.
This decision isn’t all about letting China have all the fun, notes the Hollywood Reporter; in fact, it’s being done primarily to keep video piracy from taking too much of a bite out of opening-weekend box office receipts. Traditionally, American films’ Chinese release dates have lagged significantly behind their U.S. counterparts, but this has been changing in recent years — mainly because of statistics like these, from the Hollywood Reporter article:
"MPA statistics show that of all the optical discs sold in China, about 93% are illegal. Despite government crackdowns, pirated DVDs of first-run movies are widely available on China’s streets for less than $1 each."
The article goes on to note that it’s still unclear to what extent, if any, "Spider-Man 3" will be edited for Chinese theaters.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
