Pirated "Da Vinci Code" hits China streets

Shanghai, May 22 : Bootleg DVDs of ''The Da Vinci Code'' were on sale all over Shanghai today, days after China pipped Cannes by hours with the world premier of the movie.

Pirated DVD versions of both ''The Da Vinci Code'' and ''Mission Impossible 3'' were selling for 5 yuan each, but the workmanship was poor, as is usually the case for early pirated copies often made with hand-held camcorders in the cinema.

One customer said he could see people walking in front of the cinema screen.

''I could even hear someone drinking Coke or something,'' he said, adding that he lost patience half-way through and vowed to pay up and see the movie at the cinema.

A sales assistant at a DVD shop said the initial copies were ''pirated overseas'' and that ''better quality'' versions would probably be available early next month.

But vendors remain wary of new customers.

The owner of a shop in Shanghai's Minhang district would only sell to ''old customers,'' he said, adding that strangers' requests for ''The Da Vinci Code'' would be met with a firm no.

He did not explain why.

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 dollars worth of tickets at movie theatres in the United States and Canada during its first three days, according to Columbia Pictures.

Last week, the movie's China distributor estimated that Ron Howard's adaptation of the novel would reap over 60 million yuan (7.5 million dollars) in China.

Reuters