As we reported last month, Mission: Impossible III has been having all sorts of problems getting approval to be released in China. Among other things, the filmmakers were accused of portraying Shanghai in a negative light (Laundry! Hanging out of windows! Can you imagine?), and the release was delayed while censors re-examined the film. Now, after unspecified cuts, the movie has a release date: July 20. As expected, the date comes after the 5-week blackout on foreign films that will accompany China's celebration of the Communist Party anniversary. In addition, since the international release date came in early May, bootleggers have had ample time to put together high-quality pirated DVDs, copies of which are surely widely available in China for just a few dollars, a situation that can't help but hurt the movie's box office prospects. That said, however, at least The Da Vinci Code is gone, so competition will be reduced.