Poster of Rush. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The auto-racing flick finally arrived in the country on Dec 11 — two years after the 2014 Golden Globe's best picture nominee hit North American theaters.

Sources close to the Chinese distributors reveal to China Daily that a cigarette brand's advertisement printed on cars in the movie had put the brakes on its release.

China's policies forbid depictions of tobacco brands in images or film promoted in public places.

"The filmmakers had to delete the scenes that showed the brand. Reworking the film afterward was a slow process," says the source, who declined to be named.

The movie, set in the golden age of Formula 1 racing, is based on a true 1970s story that chronicles the rivalry between British playboy James Hunt and methodical Austrian driver Niki Lauda.

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, known to Chinese for playing Thor in the Marvel franchise The Avengers, and German actor Daniel Bruhl play the leads.

Directed by Ron Howard, known to Chinese for the thriller The Da Vinci Code, Rush has received critical acclaim and commercial success overseas.

Critics give it a good 89 percent positive rating on the film-review website Rotten Tomatoes, while its score on the Internet Movie Database is 8.2 out of 10.