Deadpool banned in China due to its R rated content

Fans of Deadpool were no doubt thrilled when it was officially confirmed that the merc with a mouth's new film would be rated R. Deadpool was given the rating due to its "strong violence and language throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity", and while that likely means that the film will be staying true to its anti-hero's comic book roots, it also means fans in China may find a screening hard to come by.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Deadpool has been denied a release in China due to its violence, nudity, and language. Typically, Chinese censors work with Hollywood Studios to remove and amend content and come to an agreement, but in the case of Deadpool the offending material made up so much of the film's fabric that it would have been impossible to edit it out.

This is obviously a massive blow for Deadpool fans residing in China, but it could also have longer lasting ramifications as well. China is the second biggest movie market in the world; just last year it almost single-handedly turned Terminator: Genisys into a moderate hit, and the year before that it added $300 million to the global box office purse of Transformers: Age of Extinction. Superhero movies tend to do well in China too, with recent hits such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy all posting big numbers.

If Deadpool doesn't make a decent amount of money when it's released next month, not only could it mean we won't get more unfiltered Deadpool films - it could also mean studios would hesitate making other R rated superhero projects. In other words, with China now out of the running, the fan-favourite merc needs all the help he can get. Thankfully, the first fan reactions are very positive...

Directed by Tim Miller and starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller and Gina Carano, Deadpool will open in UK cinemas on February 4, 2016 before arriving in US theatres on February 12, 2016.

Images: 20th Century Fox

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