Pakistani fans won’t be able to watch one of the most anticipated films of the year, Captain Marvel, in cinemas but it isn’t because of India.

According to Cinepax cinemas, the film, which opened on March 8 across the world, will not be releasing in Pakistan as Disney’s regional office did not give Pakistan the rights to run it.

“We don’t have any further information on this, however, work to bring in Captain Marvel is being done. It cannot be specified at the moment whether other Disney movies will be coming to Pakistan or not,” Cinepax told SAMAA Digital.

Nevertheless, fans were quick to blame India for Disney’s refusal. Social media users claimed that Disney’s South Asia Regional Office is in India and that 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.

“The speculation of Captain Marvel not being released in Pakistan because Disney’s South Asia Regional Office is in India is baseless,” Nadeem Mandviwalla told SAMAA Digital. He is the head of Mandviwalla Entertainment, one of Pakistan’s biggest film importers, distributors, and exhibitors.

“The office is indeed in India but this can never be the reason why Disney is not giving Pakistan the rights to run Captain Marvel,” he said.

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“The negotiations to bring Disney’s movie Captain Marvel to Pakistan are taking place,” said Eveready Group of Companies General Manager Aziz Pasha. Eveready Pictures is the local distributor for Disney movies and obtains the rights to the movies. It then gives movies to local cinemas to screen for audiences.

“However the case is that some other distribution company has offered Disney three times the money we pay to import the film to Pakistan. Now, Disney wants us to make a higher offer in order to take the film,” he said.

“We have been importing Disney movies to Pakistan for the past five years, and the negotiations will likely be settled at the earliest,” said Pasha. He said if the negotiations are successful, they will be able to screen Captain Marvel in Pakistan.

Captain Marvel is one of the most anticipated films of the year and the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain Marvel is expected to play a crucial role in the completion of the Avengers’ saga.

Disney’s Avengers: End Game is releasing next month on April 24 and we will have to see whether Eveready or another group gets the rights to screen it in Pakistan. Pasha said they will also negotiate for the movie when the time comes.

Captain Marvel was scheduled to release in Pakistan on March 15.

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