Slumdog Millionaire to unspool at 2,000 theatres across China
Last Updated: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | 11:54 AM ET
CBC News
Dev Patel, left, stars as quiz-show guest Jamal, who matches wits with the show's devious host (Anil Kapoor) in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. (Ishika Mohan/Fox Searchlight) Oscar darling Slumdog Millionaire has landed a coveted spot on China's list of 20 foreign films allowed to be screened in its theatres.
Danny Boyle, who captured the director's Academy Award for the film, which also won the best-picture Oscar this year, is expected to attend the movie's premiere in Beijing on March 24.
Hong Kong-based Edko Film, a distribution company, has confirmed the movie cleared Chinese censors.
Weng Li, spokesman of the China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), praised the film for its "artistic value" and said it is "positive, healthy and inspirational."
The CFGC is the body that decides on foreign films for Chinese audiences.
It's hard for many Hollywood movies to break into the Chinese market because of the quota and also the rigid censorship process — Chinese authorities often reject films that may contain negative portrayals of China, its people, explicit scenes of sex or violence, or sensitive topics such as Tibet.
"The movie will be available at cinemas nationwide," Zhang Xiaosong, an official with the China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), told the Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.
Edko Film's Zhang Hongyan says Slumdog Millionaire will be shown in some 2,000 cinemas across China.
The story of an orphan from the slums of Mumbai who rises to become a game-show winner won eight Oscars.
The British film, made on a modest budget of $15 million US, has already raked in more than $250 million US in box office receipts.
With files from the Associated Press
