I come from China, I can share some information from the Chinese perspective.
In the case of movie theaters, except for Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 3, 4, 5 are all released in cinemas in mainland China. The release time of Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 3 is later than North America, and the release time of 4 and 5 is synchronized with North America.
Since the Chinese censorship agency will not disclose the reason for not passing the censorship, but will only inform the importing party, we do not know the reason why the second film has not passed the censorship. There have been relevant discussions in some Chinese film forums, and it is generally considered to be Because it contains superstition and horror content, it cannot be shown in the cinema.
However, the failure of a movie to be shown in theaters does not mean that it will never pass the review. Because passing the censorship does not mean that it is allowed to be shown in cinemas, and it is necessary to obtain a film release permit for public release. In fact, the registration number of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 can now be found (all movies that have passed the review in China have a registration number), which means that Pirates of the Caribbean 1~5 are now All have passed the review of the Chinese censorship agency. In fact, we can also legally pay to watch the edited version on the video website.
Due to piracy, only a very small number of people will buy DVD/BD. For example, the BD sales of Pirates of the Caribbean on Taobao (the Chinese version of AliExpress) are almost all zero. But they (referring to the edited version) did pass the review and released the BD.
The above is the information about the release of Pirates of the Caribbean in China
Regarding the discussion on the review system mentioned in the answers, China’s review regulations have almost no detailed rules, only a relatively rough regulation. In order to ensure that the film can be released to recover the cost, investors usually require film companies to conduct strict self-censorship.
For example, the review rules for movies are as follows:
Movies should be deleted and edited in the following circumstances:
Misinterpreting Chinese civilization and Chinese history seriously
violates historical facts; misinterpreting the history of other
countries without respecting the civilizations and customs of other
countries.
derogating the image of revolutionary leaders, heroes, and important
historical figures; tampering with the images of famous Chinese and
foreign masterpieces and important characters.
Maliciously degrade the image of the people's army, armed police,
public security and justice.
Mixed with obscene pornography and vulgar low-level content, showing
plots of fornication, rape, prostitution, prostitution, sexual
behavior, sexual perversions, and other hidden parts such as male
and female sexual organs; mixed with dirty and vulgar lines, songs,
background music, and sound effects.
Contains murder, violence, and terror content, reverses the value
orientation of truth and falsehood, good and evil, beauty and
ugliness, and confuses the basic nature of justice and injustice;
deliberately expresses the arrogance of illegal crimes, specifically
displays the details of criminal acts, and exposes special
investigative methods; strong Stimulating plots of murder, blood and
gore, violence, drug use, gambling, etc.; plots of abuse of
prisoners, torture of criminals or criminal suspects, etc. scenes,
lines, background music and sound effects that are excessively
frightening and terrifying.
Promote a negative and decadent outlook on life, world outlook and
values, and deliberately exaggerate or exaggerate the ignorance of
the nation or the dark side of society.
Promote religious extremism, provoke contradictions and conflicts
among religions and sects, between religious and non-believers, and
hurt the feelings of the people. Promote destruction of the
ecological environment, cruelty to animals, hunting, killing, and
eating of state-protected animals.
Excessive expression of alcoholism, smoking and other bad habits.
Violating the spirit of relevant laws and regulations.
The final interpretation of these regulations is in the hands of the review department. For example, regarding the first provision, what would be considered as "misinterpreting Chinese civilization and Chinese history"? The censorship department does not have any specific definition. If the censor believes that a film misinterprets Chinese civilization and Chinese history, then it will not pass the review.
But, in fact, the Chinese film censorship agency is a relatively loose department. A certain degree of bleeding, death, and human bones can pass the audit. The slightly offensive content can also pass the audit. For example, Venom has been released in China (Only cut five minutes)
In cultural works such as games and TV dramas, the review will be much stricter. According to my personal experience, it’s not because human bones usually represent superstition or horror. The skeletal element itself is one of the reasons why the work cannot pass the review. For example, in the game, some skill icons will show skeletal elements. Compared with the game characters of skeletons, these skills themselves do not constitute any behavior that promotes superstition, terror and rebellion, but they will still be required to be modified. So there are few skeletal elements in the game. But as I mentioned before, there are no official regulations on the prohibition of skulls in TV series/movies/games. This situation may be caused by excessive self-censorship by the publisher to ensure that it passes the review. In fact, we Occasionally, you can see skeleton elements that have not been modified in some games.
