China Delays Release of 'Spider-Man: Homecoming,' 'Valerian'

Chuck Zlotnick/CTMG

'Spider-Man: Homecoming'

The move suggests that China's media regulators have reinstated their infamous blackout on Hollywood film imports during the lucrative summer moviegoing season.

Spider-Man: Homecoming's worldwide box-office dominance is missing one major piece of the global puzzle: China.

So far in 2017, most major Hollywood tentpoles have opened in China day-and-date with North America, or just shortly after their U.S. debut. But sources in Beijing say Sony's Spider-Man: Homecoming has yet to be given an official release date, which means it is unlikely to open in the world's second-largest film market until at least August.

The same goes for 20th Century Fox’s War for The Planet of the Apes, opening in North America on Friday, and Luc Besson's Valerian, set for a North American debut on July 21.

In an increasingly integrated — and still piracy-vulnerable — global entertainment landscape, release delays have been known to erode box office significantly.

The uncertainty surrounding these much-anticipated tentpoles is the clearest indication yet that Beijing's media regulators intend to reinstate their infamous blackout on foreign film imports during the lucrative summer moviegoing season.

Facing a slowdown in box-office growth, regulators cut the blackout season short in 2016, allowing a handful of U.S. studio titles into the market in late July and August. Some had speculated that China might abolish the summer blackout practice altogether this year, since Washington and Beijing trade officials are currently engaged in a high-stakes renegotiation of the U.S. film industry's terms of doing business in China. Allergic to the notion of American pop culture dominance, Beijing employs various means — including quotas, reduced revenue shares and blackouts — to limit Hollywood's access to the massive mainland Chinese theatrical market. The United States Trade Representative office, with the MPPA's urging, is understood to be pushing hard for China to give up such practices.