Ticket prices have become a cause for concern as the premiere of the biggest Chinese blockbuster of the year, director Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower, draws near.

Tickets for the small scale September previews of the movie in Beijing sold for the vastly inflated sum of 100 yuan (US$12).

Now major Beijing cinemas have reached an agreement to price each ticket for Curse of the Golden Flower at 70 yuan (US$9) for all the screenings.

But the film's distributor, Beijing New Picture Company, argues cinemas should issue day matinees tickets for no less than 50 yuan, 20 yuan more than any of the other films this year.

Curse of the Golden Flower is set to premiere in Beijing on Thursday. The Beijing Film Studio will host a grand opening party with all the cast members, Taiwan host Jacky Wu and former CCTV sports analyst Huang Jianxiang.

(CRI December 12, 2006)