 The image of Chow Yun-fat's character has been criticised |
Opening week takings of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End have surpassed those of Spiderman 3 in China, despite the film being censored. Some scenes with Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat - who plays Singapore pirate Captain Sao Feng - were trimmed for local audiences.
China's news agency Xinhua said scenes of Chow as a bald, scarred pirate, insulted China's people.
But the film has taken 80 million yuan (�5.27m) since its release on 12 June.
The figure was 10 million yuan (�659,000) more than Spiderman 3 earned in its first week.
Xinhua said Chow's time on the screen had "been slashed in half by censors in China for vilifying and defacing the Chinese."
The actor appears on screen for only 10 minutes in the version of the Hollywood blockbuster released in China, compared to 20 minutes in the rest of the world.
Some local newspaper reviews have said the cuts make the film difficult to follow.
Spiderman 3, released on 2 May, has earned more than 100 million yuan (�6.59m), topping China's movie box office takes so far this year.
One-Minute World News 
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