James Cameron’s Avatar tends to attract some pretty strange news. There has already been the report of a woman getting shot during an Avatar screening, and now we have another death related to Avatar. More on this story, plus China banning the film, and a 23 minute behind-the-scenes featurette.
After Avatar had the biggest opening in China’s history, the Chinese government has pulled the 2D version of the film from all cinemas, according to BBC News. Why? The official statement from China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is that the 2D sales were poor (only 1/3 of the total revenue), so this is standard practice. However, not everyone is buying this answer. Critics of the decision are claiming that the film’s message is what caused it to be downsized. The film’s plotline of forcing natives to move for a corporation mirrors the country’s efforts to move citizens in order to build lucrative property. Also, the fact a movie with this message has done so well scares the Chinese government, so replacing with with more Communist-friendly films both supports the government and homegrown cinema.
Interestingly enough, in the same part of the world, a Tawainese man died days after seeing Avatar in theaters. The 42 year old man apparently had already had health problems, and his doctor claims watching the movie made the man over-excited and thus caused his fatal stroke.
Lastly, Yahoo has a nice behind the scenes featurette on Avatar that’s longer than most at over 22 minutes. Take a look: