Promotional material for The Hidden Sword. Photo: The Hidden Sword's Sina Weibo account

Chinese martial arts film The Hidden Sword on Monday announced it would cancel its theatrical release scheduled for Friday, making it the fourth movie to cancel or change its theatrical release this summer. 

The announcement was made on the movie's Sina Weibo account, which cited "market reasons" for the cancellation. The announcement thanked fans for "your anticipation, your attention and support."

The movie discusses the philosophy of martial arts in which Chinese swordsmen use their skills to save the country in the 1930s. It was completed in 2017 and received the award for Best Artistic Contribution at the 41st Montreal World Film Festival the same year. 

The Hidden Sword is now the fourth film since June to cancel or change its release date. 

The war movie The Eight Hundred, which set July 5 as its theatrical release on the Chinese mainland, announced it will be released after the summer but a new date has yet to be announced. The film's screening at the 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival was canceled earlier this year.

Better Days, which tells a story about school bullying, also delayed its release scheduled on June 27, with producers saying the film "wasn't completed" and cited "market conditions," according to its Weibo account.  

The comedy The Last Wish had changed its release date from August to Thursday. News site sina.com reported on July 5 that the movie would not be released on Thursday for "production" reason. 

Ticket presales usually open two days before the release, but there was no presale information about The Last Wish on Maoyan, China's leading box office platform as of press time.