In recent weeks, it was announced that after three years of an unofficial ban, China's theaters are ready to welcome Marvel Studios' recent films, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to the nation's screens. While these films have drawn excitement from fans elsewhere in the world, Chinese viewers don't appear to be as enthusiastic, judging by recent figures.

Numbers shared on Maoyan, one of the country's largest ticketing services, show 158,532 people, at the time of writing, have expressed a desire to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and 115,543 people for Quantumania. While these numbers are not necessarily indicative of box office success, it is a way of gauging interest. For comparison, Avatar: The Way of Water saw numbers as high as 1.4 million prior to its release, though the film ultimately saw disappointing earnings.

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Both the Black Panther and Ant-Man sequels are scheduled for release in February in a sudden shift away from the virtual ban on Hollywood titles. They are the first Marvel Studios films since Spider-Man: Far From Home to be allowed in Chinese theaters. Films such as Venom: Let There Be Carnage, No Time to Die and many more have been kept out over the last few years as the country underwent what appeared to be a major cultural shift and an effort by the Communist Party-led government to promote nationalist attitudes.

China Kept Hollywood Out

These efforts were reflected recently by major film studio executives such as Bona Film Group CEO Yu Dong, who stated Hollywood films such as James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water were unsuitable for Chinese audiences, and instead pushed for viewers to see domestically produced feature films such as the Wandering Earth sequel. It's worth noting that Maoyan's "want to see" figure for the upcoming film Born to Fly, China's response to Top Gun: Maverick, stands at 389,359.

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Just as no official reasons for the ban on Hollywood films were ever reported, no official reason has been provided for Wakanda Forever or Quantumania's release. However, Chinese cinema is reportedly facing massive bankruptcy, largely owing to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the government's "Zero-COVID" policy and a variety of other factors. While the COVID policy was dropped following country-wide protests, its effects and a new, rapidly spreading outbreak continue to prevent people from returning to theaters.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is playing in theaters now in the United States. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is scheduled to premiere on Feb. 17.

Source: Maoyan