One of China's Biggest Movie Producers Slumps After War Film Postponed
One of China's Biggest Movie Producers Slumps After War Film Postponed
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of Huayi Brothers Media Corp. are tumbling after the release of a Sino-Japanese war movie it helped produce was postponed, prompting social media users to ask if it was pulled by censors due to its portrayal of Communist Party rivals.
“The Eight Hundred” will no longer be released as scheduled in theaters nationwide on July 5, according to a statement on the film’s official Weibo account, which didn’t provide a reason for the decision or give a new release date. The delay means the movie will miss the peak summer season release window and follows the cancellation of its premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival earlier this month.
Huayi, one of the country’s biggest movie producers, tumbled as much as 8.2% in Shenzhen on Wednesday, touching its lowest since May 20 and taking losses this week to more than 10%. The stock fell 7.8% on June 17 after the Shanghai premier cancellation, which was blamed on technical issues. Huayi didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
“The Eight Hundred” is based on a battle between Chinese and Japanese soldiers in Shanghai in 1937, when the Kuomintang Party ruled the country. The KMT lost the civil war to the Communist Party and fled to Taiwan in 1949. This Oct. 1 will mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and comes as President Xi Jinping faces challenges from abroad -- such as the U.S. trade war -- to difficulties closer to home, including protests in Hong Kong and a slowing Chinese economy.
One of top-ranked posts on Weibo relating to the cancellation of the movie’s premier asked: “Why? Is it because the eight hundred heroes who fought the Japanese served the Kuomintang army and not the Communist Party’s army?” Another said, “Some history is forbidden for us to remember.”
The movie’s director Guan Hu said in a video clip that the story is about “Chinese soldiers resisting external attack,” without elaborating.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Amanda Wang in Shanghai at twang234@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sofia Horta e Costa at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net, Will Davies, David Watkins
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With assistance from Bloomberg