Movie releases postponed due to virus outbreak

The releases of all seven movies that were scheduled to hit big screens during the Chinese New Year holiday have been postponed in the wake of a recent virus outbreak.

News of the delays came on Weibo on Thursday morning, along with information about ticket refunds.

Chinese health authorities announced on Thursday that 571 confirmed cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) had been reported in 25 provincial-level regions in the country by the end of Wednesday.

The movies include a biopic featuring actress Gong Li playing Lang Ping, coach of the Chinese women's national volleyball team, and the comedy “Lost in Russia” directed by and starring Xu Zheng.

Rescheduled release dates were not announced.