Titanic to be Myanmar’s first film

The first movie to play in Myanmar in more than a decade will be Titanic 3-D, Twentieth Century Fox has annouced.

The film will open on Saturday, August 17 in the Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma after Fox made an agreement with Mingalar Co, a local importer that operates eight single-screen cinemas in the country.

It will be the first American movie to be seen in “decades”, according to a statement by Fox.

Since the 2010 election where the dissident human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party were permitted to run, Myanmar has begun a series of reforms. They are intended to push the country away from military dictatorship and towards becoming a liberal democracy.

Titanic has never been seen in the country, which was closed to foreign films when the original love story, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as doomed lovers, came out in 1997.

Titanic 3-D has been a huge hit internationally, generating $287 million worldwide since it was released in April.

The biggest demand has come from China, which borders Myanmar, where cinemas grossed more than half of the global total, at $146 million.

“Twentieth Century Fox International is proud to be a pioneer in entering emerging markets and working with local businesses to further develop these endeavors,” the studio’s international co-presidents, Tomas Jegeus and Paul Hanneman, said in a statement published by The Los Angeles Times.

“We have noted with great interest the reforms taking place in Burma under [President] Thein Sein and look forward to visiting our newest territory when we travel [to] Asia later this year.”