BEIJING, Nov 25 — As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and perhaps this holds true nowhere more than in China.
Just last year, a Chinese movie called Autobots was slammed by internet users as a rip-off of the Pixar hit Cars.
Now, news has emerged of another movie called Mad Shelia by Beijing-based New Film Media that bears a striking resemblance to George Miller’s 2015 hit, starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy.
In fact, the filmmakers aren’t denying where Mad Shelia’s inspiration came from.
According to CNN, director Lu Lei wrote on Weibo: “Mad Max is the biggest winner at this year’s Oscars. Our Mad Shelia salutes!”
The film’s trailer, which you can watch below, even has the words “Mad Max rip-off trailer” in its title on YouTube.
In case you were wondering, the plot centres on a Shelia (a misspelling of the Australian slang “sheila” for a woman) who is pursued by a biker gang in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. (Sound familiar?)
Meanwhile, International Business Times reported that the movie will be available to watch online via Tencent Video streaming service, which is only usable for residents living in mainland China, from today.
Mad Max: Fury Road was never officially released in mainland China.
China has a strict policy of only allowing 34 Hollywood films to be shown annually, and Mad Max: Fury Road did not make the cut last year.
