“The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Amazing Spiderman” are set to be released in China on August 27. While both movies have been showing for some time now outside the Mainland, the delay here is due to a “protection month” in which the Chinese government only allows domestic films to be screened during the summer peak season to boost the country’s film industry, according to Shenzhen Daily.

During the peak season of early June to early July, domestic films brought in box office revenue of more than RMB1 billion, but this impressive figure is not simply down to their quality. No foreign films were screened during the period, and now “The Amazing Spiderman” and “The Dark Knight Rises” will be forced to compete with each other at the box office in China, much to the chagrin of their makers at Warner Brothers.

The term “domestic film protection month” was coined after the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television in 2004 handed down an order restricting screening foreign films between June 10 and July 10 each year, according to the article, but the reports have never been confirmed.

A film critic in Shenzhen, whose pen name is Gu Yan, said the “protection month” reflects how little confidence the Chinese film industry has in its own products.

In China, the biggest hits of the summer include “Painted Skin: The Resurrection,” “Caught in the Web” and “The Four,” each of which achieved box-office revenue of more than RMB100 million. But they are all expected to be dwarfed by the American franchises.

China’s film industry still has some way to go to catch Hollywood.

The PRD saw several activities to mark the recent fiftieth anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe such as box-sets being stocked at Shenzhen Book City and screenings of her classic films. But China is yet to produce films or figures that have been so iconic in their own country, let alone around the world.

The region’s DVD-sellers seized on the 50th anniversary of Monroe’s death, illustrating the hunger for foreign films.