Apocalyptic movie with a Chinese role draws cheers and jeers

The latest end-of-the-world movie, 2012, has drawn big audiences worldwide, including in China and the United States.

The movie, released Nov 13, presents a story based on the Mayan prophecy that the world will end on Dec 21, 2012. World leaders discover the Earth's fate at start of the movie and then build several arks to house select people from the destruction, which will save the human race so they can repopulate the earth once the crisis has subsided.

The plot follows an embittered writer, his two children and his former wife as they discover the world's fate and attempt to find the exclusive arks, leading them to China.