Animated Film Jiang Ziya Pulled From Cinemas Due to Epidemic

Many highly anticipated Chinese films have announced their withdrawal from the cinema amid the peak Spring Festival season due to the recent coronavirus epidemic outbreak, including many highly anticipated films such as Jiang Ziya, Lost in Russia, and Detective Chinatown. Jiang Ziya is the sequel to China’s biggest film release of 2019 — fantasy animation Ne Zha.

SEE ALSO: Chinese Animation Nezha Gets on the Oscars’ Radar: For Style or Content?

The crew of Jiang Ziya released this public notice:

“To all the audience waiting for the film Jiang Ziya:

After four years of production, we had wanted to meet you as soon as possible with longing and nervousness. However, due to the recent outbreak, we have taken very careful contemplation and have made the following decision:

The film Jiang Ziya will be taken down during the Spring Festival season and will be released on some other day. We will work with other partners to open the refund process and minimize the loss for our audiences. The director once said, ‘Animation is not one person’s battle, but a group of people struggling together.’ Now that the epidemic is happening, we shall put high emphasis on epidemic prevention.

We hereby pay tribute to the workers who fought on the front lines of the epidemic, and apologize to theater workers across the country. Thanks to the audience who have always supported and loved Jiang Ziya. May everyone be safe and healthy!”