Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. has decided against releasing The Dark Knight theatrically in China. The studio’s decision comes in spite of the fact that Christopher Nolan’s second Batman film is just a little over $3 million away from earning a billion dollars at the box office with nearly $466 million of that (or 46.7%) coming from overseas.  The studio undoubtedly feels that its January re-release here in the States (see “Dark Knight Re-Release Set for Jan. 22nd”) will give it enough of a boost to allow it to vault past the billion dollar mark.

According to Variety a Warner’s spokesman cited “cultural sensitivities to some elements of the film,” as the primary reason the studio was not going to release The Dark Knight to Chinese theaters, but  he “declined to elaborate” on exactly which elements in the film were to blame.  Chances are that it is Batman’s truly “extraordinary rendition” of the Chinese mobster/accountant Lau from Hong Kong to Gotham City that the Chinese would likely find offensive, though the presence in the film, of singer Edison Chen, who has been linked to an Internet sex scandal, certainly didn't help either.