After sweeping 148% tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump, China has been more restrictive of what films can and can't end up in Chinese cinemas if they hail from the United States. Luckily, if you were worried about the future of the live-action How to Train Your Dragons remake, you've got nothing to worry about.
Not long ago, China Film Administration's decided it would "follow the law of the market" and reduce the number of US films importanted as payback for the large tariffs. Now, instead of outright banning US films, the country will just be more selective in what flicks can head to the country's cinemas.
"We will follow the law of the market, respect the audience's choice, and moderately reduce the number of U.S. films imported. China is the second largest movie market in the world, and we have always insisted on opening up to the outside world at a high level, and we will introduce excellent movies from more countries in the world to meet the market demand."
Obviously, the audience appeal would play a massive role in the FIlm Admin's decisions of what to greenlight and what to sideline. Naturally, something like Disney, though, was bound to get on the nice list of China's limited US release list alongside Universal's upcoming remake. The two that have been given the thumbs up are the Lilo & Stitch live action remake and its upcoming underdog tale, Elio.
It's important to note that Chinese filmgoers are pretty important, especially to major studios with wide appeal, to the overall success of films. Oftentimes, movies will end up getting just as friutful box office sales overseas as they will in the States or end up making much more, hence why films may go through modifications to appease Chinese film rules.
Now, all three of the films will certainly be hits, though, considering the brief bout of controversy kicked up around How to Train Your Dragon casting Nico Parker to play Astrid, with the director stepping in to remind people that they are "crafting fantasy, not historical fact," it'll be interesting to see what comes of the film as it actually hits theaters on June 13. Meanwhile, Lilo & Stitch finds refuge in US theaters on May 23 and Elio follows HTTYD on June 20.
Besides Parker, For All Mankind's Mason Thames takes the lead role as the timid viking-turned-dragon-tamer, Hiccup. Alongside him, Gerard Butler retains his role as Hiccup's father, Stoick, who leads the village of dragon slaying vikings; a role which he has held as the voice of since the original 2010 animated film.