I'm not sure how to describe all this, other than it's a big mess right now with Hollywood films in China. For months, Warner Bros. waited to hear from China Film Group Corporation regarding the release of the Christopher Nolan-directed final Batman film,
The Dark Knight Rises. First, they said that the film won't be released, then that it might and so on. Then, it was revealed that China Film Group is planning to release two big superhero films on the same date, one being
TDKR and the other one is
The Amazing Spider-Man. Warner Brothers was not happy with this decision, so they tried to get a September release. Now, thanks to
LA Times, it seems that it's finally official:
The Dark Knight Rises will open on the same day as Marc Webb & Sony's
The Amazing Spider-Man. The release date for both films is August 27th.
But, there is more. According to the report, Ridley Scott's science fiction film
Prometheus will open only one week later, on September 3rd. This is definitely not a good news for these three Hollywood blockbusters, but that was the point. China wants to limit American films, as far as box office goes. It's safe to say that none of the films mentioned above will have great legs, but it's still hard to say how much will they gross in China, the biggest international market. Also, word is that both
Total Recall and
The Bourne Legacy will go against each other on September 14th.
The Dark Knight Rises,
The Amazing Spider-Man and
Prometheus all did well at the worldwide box office, but this will definitely not help their international grosses.