Chinese film to match Avatar in tech within decade
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Renowned Chinese director Feng Xiaoning has predicted that the technology used in Chinese films would match that of "Avatar" within 10 years.
"Chinese films don't need to blindly take Avatar as a gauge," Feng told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body.
"And please believe in the diligence and ingenuity of Chinese filmmakers."
Avatar dazzled the world with its 3D technology, Feng said, adding it put pressure on those Chinese films that were lagging behind their American counterparts.
"It reminds me of the pressure brought about by Titanic about ten years ago, " Feng said, "But the Chinese film sector has grown into a prosperous industry in the past decade in spite of it and the films made in the past two years are far better than those produced five years ago."
Titanic set a Chinese box office record by taking in about 360 million yuan (52 million U.S. dollars) in 1998. Before Titanic, it was rare that a Chinese film reached 100 million in ticket sales.
Feng said the pressure created by Avatar would serve as an opportunity for the Chinese film industry to grow faster.
However, Feng warned that Chinese filmmakers must stick to human interest themes when developing high technology blockbusters.
Feng became an established director with his trilogy of "War and Peace, " which included the costume drama "Red River Valley" in 1996, the World War II epic "Grief over the Yellow River" in 1998 and the 2000 movie "The Purple Sunset."
James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic "Avatar" took in 1.85 billion U.S. dollars as of Jan. 26, sinking "Titanic" to become the world's largest-grossing movie.
