“Narnia” gets China’s nod for spring run

Disney will release “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” this spring in China, a company spokesman said Thursday, making the family fantasy the third Hollywood film accepted by Beijing for 2006.

“Narnia” is likely to open following the January 13 release of “King Kong” and early-February premiere of “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

China limits to 40 the number of foreign-made films allowed to be exhibited each year, and caps at 20 the number of imports that are allowed to earn their producers a share of China’s box office receipts.

State-run distributor China Film Group Corp. tends to spread out the release dates it grants to foreign films in an effort to avoid concentrated box office competition for struggling domestic productions.

The film version of “Narnia,” based on the children’s book classic by C.S. Lewis, has earned more than $200 million worldwide after just 12 days of release, Disney distribution arm Buena Vista International said in a statement in Beijing.

Source: Yahoo Entertainment News, Written By: Jonathan Landreth