Confucius (Chinese: 孔子) is a Chinese biographical film first released in Beijing on 14 January 2010. Directed by Hu Mei, the film stars Chow Yun-fat as the titular philosopher. Production on the film began in March 2009 with shooting on location in China's Hebei province and in Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang.

Confucius 2010| Film Confucius Sinopsis Video Movie Trailer and The film was scheduled to screen later in 2009 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, as well as the 2,560th birthday of Confucius himself. However, the release date was later moved to January 2010.

Confucius
Directed by	Hu Mei
Produced by	Han Sanping Hu Mei
Starring	Chow Yun-fat Zhou Xun
Music by	Su Cong
Cinematography	Peter Pau
Studio	Dadi Film China Film Group
Release date(s)	China: 28 January 2010
Country	China
Language	Chinese (Mandarin)
Budget	HK$22 million (US$2.8 million)

Cast

* Chow Yun-fat as Confucius
* Zhou Xun as Nanzi
* Jiao Huang as Laozi

Controversies
Choice of actors

After the project was announced, the reaction in China was decidedly mixed. As the film is made in Mandarin, many have expressed concern that Chow, a native of the Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong SAR, will lack the requisite Mandarin-speaking skills to portray the revered philosopher. Others were concerned that Chow, a veteran of action and Kung Fu-cinema, would turn Confucius into an "kung-fu hero." Such concerns were only exacerbated after mainland star Pu Cunxin criticized Hu Mei's script as containing inappropriate levels of action and romance for a film based on Confucius' life.
Kong Jian lawsuit

In December 2009, more controversy arose when a claimed-direct descendent of Confucius brought suit against the film-makers. After seeing the film's trailer, the descendent, Kong Jian, sought to have several scenes deleted from the release of the film and objecting to the intimations that Confucius was romantically attracted to the concubine, Nanzi.
Screening

During the film's launch in China, the Hollywood blockbuster Avatar is reportedly being pulled from nearly 1,600 2-D screens across China, to benefit the wide release of this film. Instead, Avatar will continue to be shown on the fewer, but more popular 900 3-D screens throughout China, which has generated over 64% of the film's total ticket sales in China. The Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily speculates that the Chinese authorities were worried Avatar had seized the market share from domestic films and noted that many of the vacant cinema slots will be replaced by Confucius, and the film would be "drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue" concerning forced evictions of Chinese homes.

Confronted with a clamor of ticket-buyers for “Avatar” and sparse audiences for the domestic film “Confucius,” Chinese authorities appeared to have backpedaled this week on a decision to pull “Avatar” from the nation’s 2-D movie screens in favor of “Confucius.”

Zhang Hongsen, the vice director of the film bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said last week that Avatar would be limited to 3-D and Imax screens after “Confucius” opened on Jan. 22 on 2-D screens, according to the news agency Xinhua. But 2-D showings of “Avatar” have continued at some theaters outside Beijing this week, theater employees and officials said.

In Shanghai, an official with the biggest local cinema chain told fans not to worry that they would miss “Avatar” because of state-imposed restrictions. Wu Hehu, a senior manager for the chain, Shanghai United Circuit, told a Shanghai daily newspaper that its theaters would continue to show “Avatar” on both 3-D and 2-D screens.

China tries to nurture its domestic film industry by severely restricting the number of foreign movies allowed into theaters and the lengths of their runs. But the decision to limit “Avatar,” the highest-grossing film of all time, has stirred up criticism of the state’s interference with market preferences.

“I thought it was a bad move and also a bit stupid,” said Stephen Teo, an associate professor of broadcast and cinema studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. If authorities were worried about “Avatar” competing with “Confucius,” he said, they should have delayed the opening of “Confucius” until “Avatar” crowds thinned.

Mr. Zhang, of the state film bureau, the industry’s regulatory agency, said last week that the decision to pull “Avatar” from 2-D screens was purely commercial. He said that “Confucius” was available only in the standard 2-D format and that “Avatar” had not performed as well in theaters with 2-D screens as it had in theaters with 3-D or Imax screens.

“So to take the 2-D version off the screen is quite normal,” he said, according to China Daily, a state-controlled newspaper.

But “Avatar” is outperforming “Confucius” so decisively — racking up an estimated 2.5 times as much revenue every day — that pulling it from screens seems commercial folly, Mr. Teo said. In its first three weeks in China, “Avatar” topped $100 million in revenue, or about $4.7 million a day. “Confucius” averaged just $1.8 million a day in its first three days, Xinhua reported.

Part of the problem could be that although it is building theaters rapidly, China still has only a fraction of the number in the United States. Moreover, perhaps one-third of its estimated 4,700 cinema screens are too antiquated to show foreign films, according to one industry worker.

China allows 20 foreign films a year to be shown on local screens, splitting revenue among producers, theaters and local distributors. Chinese distributors purchase the local rights to show other foreign films without sharing profits with the producers, industry sources say.

Those few foreign films compete with a growing number of domestic films — more than 400 in 2008, including those co-produced with foreign companies. Over all, box-office revenue is soaring.

But China’s main studios are all state-owned and some producers complain that the government cannot decide whether movies should serve as market-driven entertainment or nationalistic propaganda.

Critics say “Confucius” belongs in the latter category. The movie, produced by Beijing Dadi Century Ltd., focuses on the later life of the philosopher, whose teachings are garnering renewed interest in China. The cast, led by the Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat and the Chinese actress Zhou Xun, was billed as star-studded. It opened on 2,500 screens in China, a record number.

According to Xinhua, Mr. Chow, who plays Confucius, predicted the film would challenge “Avatar,” produced by 20th Century Fox. But 13,039 Internet users gave “Confucius” ratings that averaged 4.4 on a scale of 1 to 10 on douban.com, a popular Chinese entertainment Web site. About 95,280 users gave “Avatar” a rating that averaged 9.1.

Meanwhile, Xinhua reported on Thursday that every showing of “Avatar” at a 459-seat Imax theater in Beijing was sold out. In Hunan Province, officials even renamed mountain peaks in a national park, saying they were prototypes for the “Hallelujah” mountains in “Avatar.”

Chinese media criticized the move, saying starstruck officials had forgotten their cultural roots. But the officials said the “Avatar” connection would increase tourism to the park.



However, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television responded by stating it was a "commercial decision", and because the "box office performance of the 2D version has not been great." However, due to low attendance for Confucius, and high demand for Avatar, the Chinese government reversed their decision, and allowed Avatar to remain on some 2-D screens in China. This choice appeared to be at least partly based on the financial performance of the two films, with Avatar grossing nearly 2.5 times more money per day