The action comedy Rush Hour 3 will not be released in
China, despite starring Chinese star Jackie Chan along with
sidekick, American comedian Chris Tucker, officials from the China
Film Group told the Nanfang City News yesterday.
Yuan Wenqiang, the President of China Film Group's import and
export branch, said, "We saw no good market potential in this film,
and thus decided not to import it."
China has already brought over several Hollywood blockbusters
this summer, including Spider-Man 3, Pirates of the
Caribbean: At World's End, Transformers, and the
upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Transformers has been the biggest success story, pulling
in is 235 million yuan (US$31.04 million) at box offices in China
by last Sunday.
Even industry insiders hesitated to predict Rush Hour 3
would be a success given its release 6 years after the series' last
outing. Too many blockbusters are crowding the market China, which
might squeeze Rush Hour 3 out straight to the garbage can
despite starring Jackie Chan as well as Zhang Jingchu, a rising
Chinese starlet.
China only allows 20 foreign films into domestic market per
year.
Hollywood trade publication Variety suggested Tuesday
that a scene where stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker fight a
Chinese crime family in Paris had prompted the banning of the movie
but this was denied by China Film Group.
Jackie Chan, 53, and Chris Tucker, 34, have co-starred in every
part of the Rush Hour trilogy directed by Brett Ratner
since 1998. Rush Hour 3 will be released in the United
States on August 10.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui August 3, 2007)
