I"m speechless with cardboard land
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BEIJING (AFP) – A city in central China has renamed a mountain
after the US blockbuster movie "Avatar," which set a Chinese box
office record until its run in the country was cut
short.
The majestic peak in Hunan province
previously known as "Heaven and Earth Pillar" or "South Sky Pillar"
has been officially renamed "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain," the
Zhangjiajie
city government said in a statement.
The statement, posted Monday on the government's website, said
the peak was believed to have inspired a floating mountain, one of
the most dramatic images in the movie, set on fictional
Pandora.
Juxtaposing photos of the mountain with stills from the film, a
report in the local Xiaoxiang Morning News said a Hollywood
photographer came to the area on a four-day trip in December 2008
and shot a number of photos that were used by the film's
artists.
The futuristic adventure was released in both 2-D and 3-D
versions January 4 and has become China's
all-time box-office champion, topping 80 million dollars in sales,
state media said last week.
However, its 2-D run in China ended on Friday amid reports it
was pulled ahead of schedule by the government to make way for the
patriotic biopic "Confucius," about the
ancient Chinese philosopher. It is still running in 3-D.
The Xiaoxiang Morning News said officials expect the mountain's
similarity to the film version to trigger a tourism boom during the
week-long Spring Festival holiday starting on February 14.
The mountain is in the Wulingyuan
Scenic Area, which is famed for its soaring sandstone pillars and
was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site
in 1992.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100126/od_afp/entertainmentchinafilmavatarmountainoffbeat;_ylt=AgvYQCkJOLv4HZKLXO5ITNLtiBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNoMGdycW1jBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDEwMDEyNi9lbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50Y2hpbmFmaWxtYXZhdGFybW91bnRhaW5vZmZiZWF0BHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9hcnRpY2xlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDY2hpbmVzZWNpdHly
