As I sidled up to the counter in a Starbucks in Suzhou recently, the attendant – already well aware of my taste for espresso – called out the order to the barrista and then asked me, “Have you seen Avatar?” I didn’t know the Chinese name of the movie, so it took me a few seconds to figure out what she was on about. She chattered on, “It’s supposed to be amazing!” She pointed to the barrista, “He waited two hours in at the box office to get tickets. He said it was worth the wait.” The young man attending to my espresso grinned sheepishly.

Chinese officials are shutting down Avatar in about two-thirds of its movie theaters throughout the country. The movie has been wildly successful in the country, despite any allusions to military excursions far from home. Though foreign films are allowed to stay in China only about ten days, the film still apparently has a lot of pent up demand. China only has about 2,500 theatres and mostly those at or near middle class level will be able to see the film. Seating several hundred people at a time for a film that demands it be watched on a big screen (with or without the 3D glasses), means several hundred million people will be sorely disappointed when Chow Yun Fat (easily one of the greatest actors in the world, in my book) will stroke his pointy white beard as Confucius on Replacement Screens.

Though it would be considered rude and culturally regressive in China to protest the screening of Confucius in place of a glossy American sci-fi adventure film, I wouldn’t be surprised if many would-be theatre-goers simply did not attend screenings of the historical fiction. Certainly, DVD sales of Avatar will accelerate more quickly and in greater volume, much to the delight of the DVD black market in the country.

In any event, look forward to lines into remaining Avatar screens to be even longer, and demand to increase through word-of-mouth. It looks like it will be a while before I see the film, as I have little patience for waiting in lines with the chattering masses.

An espresso, anyone?

Further reading: NYT

Updates: Avatar survives on Chinese Screens (WSJ), China’s zeal for Avatar crowds out Confucius (NYT)