'Avatar' pulled from 2-D screens by Chinese government

The most successful movie of all time in China is being pulled from the majority of theaters there much sooner than expected.

The communist nation’s state-run movie distributor China Film Group is unexpectedly yanking the James Cameron-directed blockbuster "Avatar" from 1,628 2-D screens this week in favor of a biography of the ancient philosopher Confucius starring Chow-Yun Fat.

Paul Hanneman, co-president of international distribution for the movie’s distributor 20th Century Fox, confirmed the news, which he and other executives at the studio learned Monday evening.

According to a report in the Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily, the move was made at the urging of propaganda officials who are concerned that "Avatar" is taking too much market share from Chinese films and drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions.

Millions of Chinese have been uprooted to make way for high rises and government infrastructure projects. “Nail House” is a popular term given to homes of dwellers who refuse to leave though they are surrounded by demolished homes. In "Avatar," human colonists try to demolish the village of an alien race in order to obtain a precious resource buried below it.

However, David Wolf of Wolf Group Asia, a media consultancy based in Beijing, said the decision to pull "Avatar" had more to do with the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday.

"There's certain windows in the year that are held for domestic films," Wolf said. "We're coming up on Chinese New Year, so this can be expected."

The week-long national holiday, also known as the spring festival, begins the weekend of Feb. 13. China has only 4,000 screens, which places run times at a premium.

Wolf said that most foreign films get a 10-day run before being pulled. Executives at Fox had expected "Avatar" to play much longer, however, due to its massive popularity. It is already the most successful movie of all time in China, having grossed a record $76 million, according to the studio.

Losing the 2-D screens will be a blow to "Avatar," but not a fatal one, a studio executive said. The movie will remain on nearly 900 3-D screens, which have so far generated $49 million, or 64% of its total ticket sales, according to Fox.

It’s not uncommon for China Film Group to protect domestic pictures. In 2006, "The Da Vinci Code" was unexpectedly pulled from theaters there after racking up $13 million in sales.

Foreign movies were also removed from theaters in the run-up to last year’s 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. The sweep was believed to help promote the nationalistic epic, “The Founding of A Republic.”

Only 20 foreign movies per year are allowed to be shown in China's theaters. "Avatar," which opened worldwide in mid-December, was held in Chinese theaters until January because the 2009 quota had already been filled.

Pirated copies of “Avatar” are already available in Beijing’s bootleg DVD stores. 

Calls to the China Film Group were not returned.

--Ben Fritz, reporting from Los Angeles. David Pierson, reporting from Beijing.

Photo: Producer Jon Landau, Cameron, and Fox co-chief executive Jim Gianopulos promoting "Avatar" in Beijing on Dec. 23. Credit: Andy Wong / AP.

Comments

[Marc]

I don't think this will be much of it hit for the movie, as the majority of sales are coming from the 3D version. It wil be interesting to see if earnings are effected much though.

For more Avatar news, feel free to check out navihometree.com!

[John]

So what? If they can't see it in the theaters they can see it on the Internet or buy DVDs. What are these guys thinking or smoking?

[Angry American]

Okay. So, China steals millions of American jobs while dumping everything from poisonous toys to disintegrating drywall, but they limit the number American films we can exhibit? Freeze their assets. Tariff their products. It's time to stop letting China destroy what's left of America.

[Stanley]

You'll never know what the governors of the P.R.C are thinking about. They made decasions out of their butts.

[American]

Let's buy things only made in america....oh wait...do we need missiles, machine guns, tanks in the households? Alright...we can print more money to buy machines so that we can print more money!

[babypook]

This is the same government who evicted thousands of their citizens to make room for their Olympics. Most of the world said nothing and did, nothing, in the name of 'peace'.
The people of China will find a way to decide for themselves, what films they wish to see.

[mike]

Hi all,

Interesting that they picked up on the forced-evictions; I missed it completely! The topic of forced evictions is likely to touch some Chinese' nerves, but I believe the vast majority of Chinese support (and even trust) what their government does, despite knowing they have little to no decision power.

If you remember, the movie also contained some 'anti-war' sentiment that made it somewhat provocative to a lot of Americans who saw it. You know - fighting a war in an area we don't belong? We have the freedom to influence how our government decides things, but there's no doubt we also supported and trusted our government to do the right thing too, and go to war.

You shouldn't criticize China's government for acting on its own behalf, because our government acts on America's behalf, just as reliably. The only difference is that we might have more influence from political groups, domestic and foreign (mostly westernized countries at that). If you don't believe this, you've got vanity up the butt.

Yeah sure over there it's easier to view it over the internet. Chinese people no doubt still will enjoy watching it on 3d, mind you - those that can at least. But do you remember how many theaters they have?!! They have like a tenth of the number we do! And they have like x to the 3rd number of citizens we do!! I'm sure a sizeable chunk of chinese haven't even heard of this movie, and may never have seen a movie...

My point? I just can't believe all your BS comments - grow up! I can't believe one of you ACTUALLY said, "It's time to stop letting China destroy what's left of America" That's an ameri-centric viewpoint if I ever saw one. In a single sentence you seem to insinuate America is dying away, and that China is responsible... Have you ever learned anything about America other than what you see on TV? I doubt you've ever been to another country, much less read the paper..

If anything is true, it's that this movie (IF it entices some chinese to talk about their forced eviction issues at all) will do a decent job to raise human rights awareness in China - therefore slowly 'destroying' their historical culture - what you (we) want, right? The fact they took it off a bunch of screens probably means it was working. But change comes slowly, and it's unlikely Cameron intended this as a form of foreign policy, so to claim it's more evidence of Chinese hammering down on western influence is also a bit juvenile... I'm glad the article didn't (too) clearly single this out as the reason behind the closure.

So no need to get all bent out of shape, fellow commenters. Did you know other western countries also limit/control the number of foreign films shown on domestic screens for similar reasons? Obviously, these "journalists" didn't.

Nevermind, go back to watching american idol...

[Steven]

" China steals millions of American jobs"

No; the US gave China millions of American jobs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_favoured_nation#United_States

Welcome to the New World Order

[drunkill]

Maybe the Chinese government REALLY like the 3d technology and think 2d is vastly inferior, therefore doing the citizens a favour by forcing them to see either the 3d versions in selected cinemas or to buy a pirate dvd for a few bucks.

[Lawrence]

What's the big deal? It is ok to pul from 2-D screens. It has been in the therture for three weeks and there are much more movie comming in Jan. Normally any movie can only stay in the theroter for about 3 weeks.

[Michael C.]

Time for a Blue Revolution in China!

[Naviblue.com]

Fans are livid at www.naviblue.com after hearing this news.

[wang laoyuan]

I am a china citizen from beijing .And i am not someone of gov.
i dont think "The most successful movie of all time in China is being pulled from the majority of theaters there much sooner than expected."
In fact,only the 2D type movie are being pulled from theaters because the majority of chinese perfer 3D and Imax.So theaters cant get money from 2D screens.They replace them for bussiness consideration

[sv]

The Vatican and now China. Hmmm.

[Scott S.]

I think this is more of a business-oriented move, rather than politically motivated, since a significant portion of Avatar's box-office came from 3-D screenings. It might be beneficial to average theatres in terms of generating more box-office revenue, if there is a limited amount of screens. Remember even though the film is been pulled from over 1,628 2-D screens, but nearly 900 3-D screens in China will still show it, which generates over 65% of the film's gross revenue in that country.

[freud]

When are people, supposed liberals like Cameron, going to take a stand against China? I applaud Google and deplore 20th Century Fox for distributing the movie in China. China doesn't give a hoot about Fox's profits. Fox should take a frickin' stand against a country that has a miserable human rights record. James Cameron is a liberal? Give me a break. Hollywood is just another name for a corporation that only cares about profits. It's a total sham to participate in a debate about the politics of Avatar while News Corp stock continues to reap the reward. 20th Century Fox and James Cameron stand for big money and shareholder profits. That's all they stand for. Disgusting.

[Scott S]

People should learn to read. It's stated above that most foreign films only get a 10-day run in China. I think this is more of a business-oriented move. Remember, a majority of the film's gross revenue came from 3-D screenings; what the film is made for. Plus, it could be beneficial from the business point of view to smaller theatres with less screens.

The film is only been pulled from 2-D screens, and not the 900 3-D screens in China, which makes-up for 64% of the gross-revenue for the film in that country. It won't affect the box-office that much.

[Mark Johnson]

I wish Barack Obama would do something about China. China is violating the treaties it has signed to become part of the WTO. China wants all the benefits of trading with the free world without allowing the free world to trade with China and that is ILLEGAL.

[Kiwan]

So what's new in the Kingdom of the Ants? (Reference to their social structure)
I really don't know what's wrong with Amerikans putting up with this ant farm mentality. Considering the other like comments here, and the fact that China contributes little more that poisonous trash to the world economy;
This country should have been isolated and completely BOYCOTTED long ago.
Be sure these bastards will have no hesitation to pirate the death out of Avatar and bank the proceeds.

[Jinn. A]

I am a Chinese from Sichuan,I want to say to Wang Laoyuan from Beijing,You are from Beijing,but most of the chinese people,like me,living in small cities.There are no 3D screens in our cities.If the 2D screens are pulled from China,We will never see this film ,i want to say to you,You can not represent all the Chinese people.

[International Man of Mystery]

This is another anecdote to add to the many others which builds the picture of a country that is waging economic war against America, and probably the rest of the world. Like Japan during its economic Zenith in the 80s, it is enjoying the weakness of American political will to retaliate against importers when confronted with actions against our exporters. We have to face the fact we are dealing with China Inc. Not that we would ever dump poison into consumer products or foods, but otherwise when someone sticks it to us, you stick it back in them.

[KV]

It make no sense to build the relation between 'nail house' and the reason of pulling 'Avatar'. If the movie touched the sensitive issue, why don't the Chinese gov pull it totally? Why they still keep the 3D and Imax running? And why they need to wait until 23rd of Jan? Imagine, if the movie really touch the sensitive nerve, you will never see this movie in the cinema in China at all.

[David]

I agree with Angry American. We are bound and forced to be in service to an economic trade system that is biased in China's favor. They never have played by the same ethical and reasonable rules we have, and when it comes down to looking out for interests - they only look out for their own.

If China puts restrictions on sales of American products or media, then America should do the same regarding Chinese products.

I'm all in favor of bringing back those wonderful Tariffs that kept our nation so wonderfully protected from the viral black-hat business practices of the 19th & 20th century.

Embargo China. Then - Embargo India next!

[Byteme]

With the all the terrible events and the way things generally flow these days, let me just state the obvious: who gives a damn!

[Stew]

So? I don't see the news. China isn't playing an American movie, therefore they're bad? China is guilty of quite a few things - but getting negative press in deciding to end the showing of a movie early is somehow bad?

Yawn. No news here. Move on folks.