'2012' a Home Run With Patriotic Fans in China

When the apocalypse comes, China will save the world.

A Chinese cleaner removes trash from a bin near a poster advertising the Hollywood blockbuster 2012...

A Chinese cleaner removes trash from a bin near a poster advertising the Hollywood blockbuster 2012 at a theater in Beijing, China, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. Chinese movie goers are flocking to the movie that appears to portray China as a savior of the world in a doomsday scenario where the earth's overheating core destabilizes the planet's crust and destroys humanity. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

(AP)

Or at least that's how Chinese audiences are interpreting "2012," Hollywood's latest blockbuster disaster movie.

"It's about time the world sees us as a dominant ally," said Liu Xinliang, 27, a Beijing-based computer programmer who watched the movie twice.

The movie, currently No. 1 in the U.S., is also No. 1 in China, grossing $17.2 million here since it opened Nov. 13.

In the nearly 3-hour movie, the Earth's core overheats, threatening humanity. Leaders of the world embark on a mission to build an ark in the mountains of central China to house people and animals that can repopulate the planet — a story line many Chinese have praised.

Like others in a Beijing theater this week, Liu grinned with pride as he watched Chinese troops escort wealthy and important citizens onto the ark.

Chinese netizens on popular blogs have also been quick to note other scenes perceived as having pro-China messages — Chinese military officers saluting American refugees entering China, China being one of the first nations to agree to open the ark's gates to admit more refugees, and a U.S. military officer saying that only the Chinese could build an ark of such a scale so quickly.

"I felt really proud to be Chinese as I was watching our (military) officers rescue civilians in need," said Zhang Ying, 26, an advertising executive in Beijing. "The movie along with (President Barack) Obama's visit this week made me realize that China has become a respected country on the world stage."

At a theater in central Beijing, hoards of people lined up to buy tickets.

"It's been sold out every night. They all want to watch China save the world," a ticket attendant said with a laugh.

It has also pulled in the crowds in Indonesia but has garnered a less positive response in some quarters in what is the world's most populous Muslim nation — because it predicts doomsday.