Whedonesque : Comments on 8145 : Serenity starts to get release dates in Asian Markets.

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September 28 2005

Serenity starts to get release dates in Asian Markets. Singapore is the first east Asian country to announce an official Serenity Release Date, which will be on January 12th, 2006.

There hasn't been any announcement from UIP Japan or UIP Taiwan yet (these are the only other 2 Asian UIP branches with websites), but hopefully won't be too far away.

These are the UIP branches in far east asia are: China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philipines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand

Some spoilery comments from myself:
I'm really curious, if the movie will get a release in mainland China. From what I've known about the plot, the movie has a message that might be too subversive for mainland chinese markets and their government censorship. Which will be sad, because we'll be losing a pretty large market, but probably Universal has already accounted for that.

Numfar PTB | Firefly&Serenity | 15:33 CET | 5 comments total | tags: singapore, asia, serenity

Oooh, Yay! I might be back in Singapore on that date, and I would be able to drag people back home to go watch it! :D My friends there already know about the movie, and were looking out for the release date. Super cool!

non sequitur | September 28, 16:57 CET

Would the movie be dubbed or subtitled? And I can't help but think that by the time the movie opnes in Asia, it'll be readily available to buy on bootleg DVD or downloaded off the net.

Simon | September 28, 17:00 CET

It very probably won't be dubbed or subtitled in Singapore, just about the entire cinema-going crowd there speaks English. Same goes for Hong Kong. However, I can't tell for the rest. In Malaysia and the Philipines, most English movies are subtitled. It will probably be dubbed in the other countries listed, except for Japan and Korea (no idea about those two).

Chances are that by then, there would be plenty of pirated copies around, especially in Malaysia, Thailand and China. Quite a few Singaporeans go across the causeway to get pirated DVDs too, and although there are checks, some are invariably sneaked across. That can't be helped.

I do hope that it makes a tidy profit back home, though. If I remember correctly, Singaporeans watch the most number of movies a year (in the theatres). It would be so shiny if it was a big hit. ;)

non sequitur | September 28, 17:09 CET

Taiwan will probably be subtitled, too. If the opening date there is also in January, I'll be back there, so I'll definetely add another one or two viewings (already planned at least 5 viewings when it opens here in Brazil), and then I'll bring along family and some friends over to watch it.

I might have to bring along my Firefly DVD set, so I can convert some people on the way.

The downloads are unavoidable nowadays, I expect to see the movie torrented even before it opens in Brazil. But hey, it's for a good cause. Joss said we had to hold the line. I'll do what I can.

[ edited by Numfar PTB on 2005-09-28 15:29 ]

Numfar PTB | September 28, 17:27 CET

And I can't help but think that by the time the movie opnes in Asia, it'll be readily available to buy on bootleg DVD or downloaded off the net.

Undoubtably.

So, the best way to combat piracy is to delay the release date until the pirates have a good run before showing the movie.

Effin' brilliant plan.

NickSeng | September 28, 19:18 CET

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