Cannibals sink Pirates 2 at cinemas (Shanghai Daily) Updated: 2006-07-10 09:52
A cinema official confirmed that the box-office record-breaker "Pirates of
the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest" will not open on the mainland because it
depicts people eating human flesh.
The movie, which stars Johnny
Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, opened in the United States on Friday. It has
grossed US$55.5 million, the biggest opening weekend in history.
"The movie didn't get the approval of screening from the state authority,"
said an official from Shanghai United Cinema Lines, the city's largest cinema
chain.
The official declined to be named.
He said the main reason it had not got approval was because of scenes of
cannibalism. However, the scenes are a key part of the movie's plot and cannot
be easily changed or cut.
China does not have a movie-rating system. Often the government will suggest
producers cut violence or sex scenes before it gives approval for the movie to
be screened.
Producers of "Mission Impossible 3," which is expected to be released in
mid-July, changed some dialogue and cut scenes to pave the film's way to the
cinema. Scenes showing laundry hanging from washing lines and old people playing
mahjong ended up on the cutting room floor.
"What a pity," Tian Wei, a movie fan, said of Pirates 2 not winning approval.
"The movie is expected to be a box office hit. But now we have no choice but to
watch it on DVD or on the Internet."
With a budget of around US$200 million, the movie - directed by Gore
Verbinski and also starring, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley - centers on
Captain Jack's quest to find a mysterious chest. Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat
also joins the cast as a Chinese pirate captain. The movie held its premiere in
California on June 24 and was released on Friday.
The series's first installment in 2003 - "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse
of the Black Pearl" grossed more than US$653 million worldwide at the box
office. In China, when the first part screened in the same year, it chalked up
27 million yuan (US$3.37 million) around the country.
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