ST-Confucius: China's ideal spokesman to the world

The Chinese government recently bumped the 2-D version of Avatar off cinema screens to promote the new biopic, Confucius, whose production it had sponsored.

The reason, said a state official, was commercial: Avatar was not doing as well as expected. (The 3-D version was not pulled.)

But in fact, Avatar - which last week earned a Best Picture Oscar nomination, among others - had outsold Confucius decisively.

In the three weeks after the American film premiered in China on Jan 4, it had collected about US$100 million (S$141 million) - averaging about $7 million a day - to become the country's top earner in its box-office history. By comparison, the Chinese film, which follows the life of a revered thinker and stars Chow Yun Fat, took in $8 million after five days.

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