‘Matrix’ may get jump on film pirates

Warner Bros., the studio behind “The Matrix” series, hopes to get the jump on film pirates in China by showing the trilogy’s final film at the same time there as in other countries, betting that people would rather spend their money on legitimate movie tickets than on knockoff DVDs, officials said Monday.

The Nov. 6 debut of “The Matrix Revolutions” in Beijing -- timed close to its U.S. release on Nov. 5 -- will be the first time Chinese moviegoers won’t have to wait weeks or months for the latest box-office smash to light up local screens.

“We are speeding up the importing of films with the aim of curbing pirated copies,” said Zhou Tiedong, an official with China Film Group Corp., the government body that approves foreign films. “The pirated copies usually appear in China three days after the first showing in the United States. We will leave zero space for pirated copies if films can be shown at the same time as the international market.”