Alex Garland's successful dystopian thriller Civil war has delivered a potentially lucrative theatrical release in China. Chinese company Huahua Media has acquired the local rights to the film and will distribute it in partnership with Alibaba Pictures on June 7. The plans represent an important milestone for the exciting mini-major. A24. It is the influential studio's very first cinema opening in China, the world's second largest film market.
Since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Civil war has earned $65 million in North America and $108 million worldwide.
Depiction of a journey through a dystopian future America, Civil war follows a team of military-based journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions invade the White House. The film features an ensemble cast led by an Oscar nominee Kirsten Dunstincluding Cailee Spaeny, Nick OffermanStephen Henderson and WagnerMoura.
The dystopian film about the political divisions that caused the collapse of American democracy comes during a US election year and has seen an outpouring of think pieces. However, it turned out impressively appeal to the public across the American political spectrum.
Civil war makes for an interesting choice as the first A24 title to be released in China. Any film that hints at possible social instability in the country is usually rejected outright by Beijing's notoriously strict film censors. But it is now clear that dystopian chaos in the United States is a perfectly acceptable topic for Chinese regulators. That's perhaps not surprising considering that the circumstances of the film's story seem to fit Beijing's usual message about the superiority of China's one-party system over Western liberal democracy.