Harry Potter in Indonesia by End of Month: Minister
Thursday, July 21, 2011
he final Harry Potter installment, Transformers 3 and Kung Fu Panda 2 will be released in Indonesia before the end of the month, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said on Thursday.
It appears, however, that it is not all good news for Indonesian movie lovers, with Jero indicating the dispute with Hollywood had not been completely resolved and that ticket prices were likely to rise.
“The two movies are now being censored at the Film Censorship Board (LSF) and if everything is okay then they should be released before [Ramadan],” he told reporters at the State Palace.The Motion Picture Association of America did not return emails on Thursday seeking comment about Jero's statement.
Jero, in a doorstop interview, said that even though the movies would be screened, it did not mean the tax dispute had been resolved.
Asked about a potential increase in ticket prices, he said the ministry would not impose a limit in any price hike, though he urged movie theaters to avoid extreme increases.
“Because the movies that will be shown are top movies, if there is price rise, then it should only be small.”
Muklis Paimi, the head of Film Censorship Board (LSF), confirmed to the Globe that three Hollywood films were being censored.
“Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Kung Fu Panda 2 are being censored,” he said.
“Hopefully, we will have finished this by tonight.”
The Potter movies have a devoted following in Indonesia, where thousands of fans play the wizard sport of Quidditch on Twitter.
Last month, a new tax regime for foreign films was agreed in response to protests by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) over an attempt to charge studios more to screen films in Indonesian cinemas.
“We hope that there will be no more boycotts like this,” he added.
Sjafruddin said local cinemas would also screen several Hollywood hits that they had missed during the five--month boycott.
Since the studios began boycotting the country, Indonesian movie lovers have missed out on “Black Swan”, “True Grit” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”.
The MPA represents US studios including Warner Bros, Universal Studios and Twentieth Century Fox.
