Box office hit Oppenheimer tipped to be summer blockbuster in China amid pre-release hype and nude scene controversy
- Mainland movie experts say announcement of release means hit Christopher Nolan film has passed censorship test
- Excitement spreads on social media ahead of opening as mainland people travel to Hong Kong to take in ‘uncut’ version of movie
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film Oppenheimer has set off a wave of excitement among moviegoers in China ahead of the movie’s scheduled release in the country later this month.
On July 25, Universal Pictures’ official account on Weibo – China’s Twitter-like social media platform – announced that the film is set to open on August 30.
The highly-anticipated news for the director’s large mainland fanbase arrived days after the movie’s premiere in Hong Kong on July 20, and global opening on July 21.
Thousands of people welcomed the announcement on Weibo, with one person commenting: “Better late than never.”
The news has shocked some who thought its mainland release was “out of the question” due to the R rating it received in the United States for sexuality, nudity and language.
Some people also feared that its anti-Communist content would not pass muster with strict political censorship rules in China.