By SHARON LaFRANIERE
c.2010 New York Times News Service
BEIJING – A Hollywood vision of the future is outweighing the Chinese government’s preference for a piece of the country’s past.
Confronted with a clamor of ticket-buyers for “Avatar” and sparse audiences for the domestic film “Confucius,” Chinese authorities appeared to have backpedaled this week on a decision to pull “Avatar” from the nation’s 2-D movie screens in favor of “Confucius.”
Zhang Hongsen, the vice director of the film bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said last week that Avatar would be limited to 3-D and Imax screens after “Confucius” opened on Jan. 22 on 2-D screens, according to the news agency Xinhua. But 2-D showings of Avatar have continued at some theaters outside Beijing this week, theater employees and officials said.