Chinese war film The Eight Hundred’s release cancelled, days after it was pulled from Shanghai film festival
- The film, telling story of Chinese Nationalist soldiers’ defence of a warehouse against Japanese army during Battle of Shanghai, was to have opened on July 5
- No reason was given for the cancellation, but it followed ‘consultation between the production team and other entities’, film’s official Weibo account said
The official release of China-produced World War II epic The Eight Hundred has been cancelled, days after its world premiere at the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival was scrapped at short notice.
An announcement on the film’s official Weibo account, quoted by film industry publication Variety, said that, “after consultation between the production team and other entities, The Eight Hundred will cancel its original July 5 premiere and temporarily vacate the summer release date window. The new release date will be announced at a later time.”
To boost morale, the Nationalist commander of the defending forces, Xie Jinyuan, tells outsiders that they had 800 people standing guard at the warehouse. The soldiers hold out for four days and four nights, successfully beating back six Japanese advances, boosting the morale of the Chinese military and populace. However, the encounter wasn’t a turning point in the war and Shanghai eventually fell to the Japanese.
While the reason for the cancellation of the film’s release is not known, a week before the Shanghai festival opened the Chinese Red Culture Research Association held an academic conference on filmmaking where attendees voiced opinions on The Eight Hundred.