"The Hunger Games" To Be Released in China

Last fall, Lionsgate motion picture group president Joe Drake said, "The Hunger Games will be released in China." We haven't heard anything else about it, though. Bloomberg reports that Lionsgate's CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed the movie has been approved for release in China.

We got approved to be in China in cinema and that’s a big move for that movie,” Feltheimer said in a May 2 interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
The year’s biggest film to date has collected $603.5 million in worldwide sales without China, which follows North America and Japan in box-office receipts. Feltheimer didn’t discuss details such as the release date.Overseas sales of $228.5 million for “The Hunger Games” have lagged behind revenue in the U.S. because Suzanne Collins’ trilogy of young-adult books aren’t well known internationally, Feltheimer said. That will change by the time the second film, “Catching Fire,” is released next year, he said.
China is becoming more important to U.S. filmmakers as the country adds more movie theaters, loosens restrictions on Western films and seeks more co-productions. Box-office sales there increased 35 percent to $2 billion in 2011, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. U.S. receipts were $10.2 billion, according to the group.

Yeah for all the Chinese tributes! This could also help box office totals, which means this will be huge for The Hunger Games.