By Variety | Created at 2024-11-25 06:12:27 | Updated at 2024-11-25 08:54:10
3 hours ago
“Kraven the Hunter” has been granted a theatrical release in mainland China that is closely coordinated with its North American and international rollouts.
It will open in Chinese theaters on Dec. 14, a Saturday. Its international campaign begins at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival on Dec 11, along with the first commercial outings in Europe. Its U.S. and Canada releases begin on (Friday) Dec. 12.
The film is the sixth in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and is a standalone story of how one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Other key cast include Ariana DeBose, Fred Hechinger, Alessandro Nivola and Christopher Abbott.
Directed by J.C. Chandor, with a story by Richard Wenk and a screenplay by Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway it is produced by Produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and David Householter.
China has been a difficult market for Hollywood films in recent years as audiences become better served by local titles and as demographics change. But this year’s Mainland China box office malaise has caused authorities to be relatively lenient with imported titles – in terms of import volume, release dates and content
In North America, the film has been given an R-rating. China does not have a rating system and all film releases are supposed to be suitable for all audiences. However, some distributors add unofficial content warnings about suitability for young audiences. In other cases, censors may require cuts to be made.
Another import film lining up a wide release in China is India’s “Maharaja.” A crime actioner with a social message, the film stars Vijay Sethupathi and Anurag Kashyap. It opens in China on (Saturday) Nov. 29, having released in India and multiple international territories in June.
