The screening of "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey", a British slasher film due to be released in Hong Kong this week, has been cancelled, reported Reuters. The distributor, while making the announcement on Tuesday did not give any reason for pulling it.
Taking to Facebook, VII Pillars Entertainment said that it was with “great regret” that the scheduled release of the movie on March 23 had been cancelled. No details were given by them.
The film’s main character, the bumbling bear, originally conceptualised by English author A A Milne has often been compared to Chinese President Xi Jinping and has been used to protest against him in recent years.
The meme began after an image showing China's President Xi Jinping and former US President Barack Obama started to circulate during Xi's visit to the United States in 2013, reported Reuters.
Censors in China have since clamped down on references to AA Milne's character, and the 2018 Christopher Robin film was banned in the country.
The Hong Kong government has so far not responded to a request for comment by the media.
A ticket-booking link on its Facebook page said message ticketing was temporarily unavailable for the film.
Moviematic, which had organised a screening of the film for Tuesday evening, confirmed about the cancellation on its social media page, citing technical reasons for it, according to Reuters.
A new censorship law that came into effect in 2021 prevents certain films from being shown in the Chinese special administrative region.
The city’s censorship law bars films that "endorse, support, glorify, encourage and incite activities that might endanger national security" said Reuters in its report.
Two films were dropped from Hong Kong’s international film festival last year after failing to get approval from authorities.