Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del toro with the poster of The Shape of Water Photo: IC

 
The Shape of Water, the latest work from Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del toro, is set to hit the big screens across the Chinese mainland on March 16, according to a Wednesday report on the news site ifeng.com. 

The film has received numerous awards including Best Director at the Golden Globes and 13 Oscar nominations.

The cold war-set story of love between a cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature, The Shape of Water was rated R in the US for its sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and language, according to a report on parentpreviews.com. 

Chinese film goers have been wondering how much content is likely to be cut in order to pass Chinese film censorship. China does not have a film rating system for movies containing adult subject matter.  

Chinese netizens said they expect scenes containing nudity, sexual content and some scenes of violence will definitely be cut. 

"Films such as Kingsman 2 and Logan, had some bloody violent scenes cut in order to pass censorship," Chen Changye, a film critic based in Beijing told the Global Times on Thursday.

The Chinese version of Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle is two minutes shorter than the international version and Logan was 14 minutes shorter.