'Happyness' to break Chinese ban

December 21, 2007 China's blackout of Hollywood films has been broken by the Will Smith starrer "The Pursuit of Happyness," which Chinese film import officials now say will be released here in January. The unofficial ban of imported films, earlier denied by China Film Group executives, was thought to have come down from on high in the Communist government, which long has moved to prevent what it calls "pollution" of domestic culture and to protect the struggling domestic film industry. Talk of a ban emerged during an international movie industry conference in Macau in early December, when MPAA representatives and Hollywood executives leaked details of the so-called ban just prior to broader U.S.-China trade talks.

Subscribe to the Hollywood Reporter and see the entertainment industry from its best angle: the inside looking out. Complete access to real-time news and exclusive analysis that goes behind the scenes from film to television, home video to digital media.

   Subscribe now.