Beijing, January 20: Chinese authorities have ordered cinemas to stop showing the box-office smash hit “Avatar”, reports here said.
Two Beijing cinemas confirmed that they would stop showing the ordinary version of “Avatar”, but not the 3-D version, from Saturday, despite the movie’s continued high popularity.
The Hong Kong-based Apple Daily newspaper said the state-run China Film Group had ordered all Chinese cinemas to stop showing the film. “Avatar” took about 300 million yuan ($40 million) at the box office in its first eight days after its release in China on Jan 4, the official China Daily quoted the China Film Group as saying.
Many commentators in China found a political resonance in the film’s story of the Na’vi’s battle to protect their land and culture from outsiders, comparing them to Chinese citizens fighting to protect their property from the government and developers.
“Somehow, the film struck a chord with Chinese audiences and created nothing less than a social phenomenon,” commentator Huang Hung wrote in China Daily on Tuesday. “Why? All the forced removal of old neighbourhoods in China makes us the only earthlings today who can really feel the pain of the Na’vi,” she said.
“For audiences in other countries, such brutal eviction is something outside their imagining. It could only take place on another planet or in China,” popular blogger Han Han wrote of “Avatar”.
Cultural officials also wanted to ensure the success of a big-budget, state-approved film of the life of social philosopher Confucius scheduled for release nationwide Friday, the Apple Daily said.
“Avatar” had been scheduled to run until February 28. Many viewers had queued for tickets costing up to 150 yuan ($22) for the IMAX 3-D version of “Avatar” in Beijing earlier this month, the Global Times newspaper said.
-IANS