China drops the curtain on 'Da Vinci Code'

Shanghai, China - China has ordered cinemas to stop showing the controversial blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code", media and movie theatre officials said on Thursday, though the official reason was not immediately clear.

The government, in dispute with the Vatican over its appointment of bishops without papal approval, issued an internal notice to state media on Wednesday, asking them not to promote the movie any longer, said a Chinese media source, who asked not to be identified.

"The notice ordered us not to comment, discuss the film or even mention the name of the movie in any form in print," said the source, who has been briefed on the situation.

"The movie will be banned nationwide from June 9, so today will be last day for you to see the movie," said the source, citing the notice issued by government's propaganda department.

The source added the regulators had made the decision after protests from Chinese religious groups, but was unable to elaborate.

Two major cinema complexes in Beijing and Shanghai confirmed they had been told to pull the movie, which opened in China on May 17, hours before its gala opening at Cannes.

"We received a notice from the Beijing government asking us to stop the film," said a clerk at a theatre in the Chinese capital. "It might be something to do with the religious content of the film."

"All copies have been retrieved. We have not been told of the reason," added a worker at Shanghai Film Art Centre, one of the city's main theatre complexes.

Telephone calls to the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, which oversees movie distribution and censorship in China, went unanswered, and there was nothing on its Web site about the movie.

The controversial adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel, the story of a Vatican cover-up involving Jesus Christ and his supposed offspring, sold about $77 million (42 million pounds) worth of tickets at movie theatres in the United States and Canada during its first three days, according to Columbia Pictures.

The movie's China distributor had estimated that Ron Howard's adaptation of the novel would reap over 60 million yuan (4 million pounds) in China.

It has been banned in several Indian states, as well as Fiji, Pakistan and some other countries for offending religious sensibilities.

China is officially an atheist country, though its constitution theoretically guarantees religious freedom.

Relations between Beijing and the Vatican -- who do not have diplomatic ties -- reached a new low last month when the Pope censured China publicly for installing two bishops in the state-backed Catholic church without the Holy See's approval.