'The Predator' Secures China Release Date

[Nergal]

 

Chinese movie fans are bracing to see how much Beijing's censors will cut from the R-rated film.


Shane Black's reboot The Predator has locked down a release date in the massive Chinese film market. The 20th Century Fox film will open theatrically in the Middle Kingdom on Oct. 26.


The Predator is the fourth installment in the franchise that began with Arnold Schwarzenegger going to war with a menacing extraterrestrial in 1987, but it will be the first Predator flick to hit the big screen in China, which only really came of age as an important distribution territory during the past decade.


Given that the film is rated R in North America, a theatrical outing in China was never a sure thing. Several R-rated U.S. action movies, such as Logan and Alien: Covenant, have scored China releases but only after they underwent significant cuts by Beijing's censors. Others, like both of the Deadpool films, never gained permission for a wide release.


Directed and co-written by Black, The Predator follows a group of former soldiers and a science teacher as they battle the alien hunters after a boy in the suburbs triggers their return to Earth. The new story stars Trevante Rhodes, Sterling K. Brown, Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn and Keegan-Michael Key.


So far, the film has earned $47.8 million in North America and $68.4 million internationally. The film had an estimated production budget of $88 million.