Pakistani fans of the Marvel Universe were left disappointed when Cinepax Cinemas officially announced on Thursday that the highly anticipated film Captain Marvel will not be releasing in the country as Disney’s regional office did not give Pakistan the rights to run it.
The cinema chain posted the news on their official Facebook account, but as of now the post has been deleted. The movie, which has been released worldwide on March 8, was missing from the local cinema schedules for a week.
“We realize the wait must have made you wonder if it was merely a delay in the release date or else. We are sad to announce that the Disney’s regional office didn’t give Pakistan the rights to run Captain Marvel. Hence, Captain Marvel is not releasing in Pakistan,†the statement said.
This has been an unexpected blow to the film business in Pakistan, especially at a time when Bollywood films are also not screening in local cinemas. Cine-goers were eagerly waiting to watch the first ever Marvel film with a female lead superhero (Brie Larson starring as Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel) and which has been co-directed by a woman (Anna Boden) as well.
Soon after the news was broken, Marvel fans in Pakistan expressed their disappointment and were quick to blame India for Disney’s refusal.
Social media users claimed that Disney’s South Asia Regional Office is in India and it is being run by a man named Mahesh Samat, which might be the reason why Pakistan didn’t get the rights to distribute the film. However, the rumours have not been corroborated by any official.
Fans are also hoping that this trend will not continue in the next month when Marvel’s popular franchise Avengers: Endgame will release on April 26.
Here’s what fans had to say…
Unfortunately no. Wanted to. But for some reason (which I wont google and have my blood boiled but have a very fair idea of) – it still hasn’t been released in #Pakistan
Look into it perhaps? Don’t ruin it for us please! #EarthsMightiestShow @Marvel @MarvelStudios @captainmarvel https://t.co/iPLrN7EAv0— Maazia Majeed (@_maazia) March 11, 2019
@MarvelStudios can you please clarify why Captain Marvel is not being allowed A release in Pakistan? All Marvel movies have released day and date with the US. @captainmarvel @joss @Disney @brielarson @SamuelLJackson @Marvel @Kevfeige @AnnaBoden
— Zouhaib (@Xobii) March 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/Usi_sidd/status/1106079262342295552
