China release of Rajinikanth's 2.0 withheld

India's costliest film 2.0, directed by Shankar, and starring Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar, was scheduled to hit the screens in China on July 12. But now, reports suggest that HY Media, the distributors of the film's Chinese version, are planning to withhold the film's release in the country.

One of the reasons for this is said to be the poor performance of their previous Indian release in China, the Akshay Kumar-starrer Padman. It's also being said that the distributors feel that they would lose money due to the release of Disney's The Lion King at the same time. An official announcement on the status of 2.0's China release is expected soon.

The Mandarin-dubbed version, rechristened as Robot 2.0: Resurgence, was slated for release in 56,000 screens across China, thereby making it the widest-ever 3D release for any film in the country. 

With 2.0's release put on hold, it remains to be seen if the other Tamil films that were recently scheduled to have a China release — Vijay's 2017 film, Mersal, and Susienthiran's upcoming sports film, Kennedy Club, starring Sasikumar and Bharathiraja — will hit the theatres as planned.