China orders sudden withdrawal of 'Da Vinci Code' film

The Chinese government has suddenly ordered all theatres to pull The Da Vinci Code off screens this week, according to movie industry officials.

Theatre staff across the country were issued a notice Wednesday ordering the withdrawal of the movie from theatres as of Friday.

The move is purportedly to make way for Chinese-produced films, a company executive, who declined to be named, told the Associated Press Thursday.

"This is coming directly from the Film Bureau," she said, adding that it is the first time the government has pulled a foreign movie from theatres after it had been approved for screening.

However, another Hollywood-produced movie, a sequel to the animated children's movie Ice Age, is scheduled to open on Friday.

Boycotts against film continue weeks after release

The furor that built up in the weeks prior to the The Da Vinci Code's release in late May has continued in some countries, including Pakistan and India, where several states havebanned the film for offending religious groups.

Chinese Catholics were among those who had urged a boycott of the film, which is based on the bestselling Dan Brown novel and suggests that Jesus fathered children and that his bloodline continues to the present day.

The Da Vinci Code received the widest release ever for a foreign film in China, with 393 prints sent to theatres, its distributorssaid.

The film was set for its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, but a Beijing theatre beat it to the punch, screening the highly anticipated thriller a few hours earlier.

Despite the poor reviews it received from critics and the religious protests around the globe, The Da Vinci Code earned $224 million US worldwide in its first three days, the second-largest debut ever at the global box office.