Carmike Cinemas is currently in negotiations with AMC Entertainment following an offer made by the latter for a merger worth $1.1 billion. Should Carmike Cinemas with AMC's terms, the merger will create China's largest chain of movie theaters comprising 8,360 screens in more than 600 cinemas scattered all over the country.
AMC Entertainment is owned by the state-owned Dalian Wanda Group. It appears that the conglomerate is on a buying spree, pledging more than $30 billion to global acquisitions and merger in this year alone. Earlier this month, the conglomerate signed a purchase agreement with the United Kingdom-based Odeon and UCI Cinema Group worth $1.2 billion, instantly turning the company into the world's largest cinema operator, according to Reuters.
While this new deals would no doubt benefit Dalian Wanda, it does not bode well for international producers, especially those from the United States. It is important to note that the Chinese government has a very strict censorship policy when it comes to not only movie contents but cultural imports as a whole that are being distributed in the country.
According to Kearney Hub, the China's censorship agency only allows 34 non-Chinese movies into the country, all of which are edited in order to conform to the guidelines of the agency. This is to make sure that all the contents being distributed portrays the Chinese culture favorably, and must also alight with the government's agenda.
One prominent example was the movie "The Martian." In the film, producers made sure that the China National Space Administration played a crucial role regarding the overall plot.
Once the Carmike Cinemas deal is done, Dalian Wanda will have full control of content and distribution in the country. This means that the firm, in theory, will have the final say of what movies are to be accepted for distribution in the country.
