Singer-turned-actor Lu Han and Chinese actress Shu Qi promote their new sci-fi movie Shanghai Fortress in Beijing on Sunday. Photo: VCG

 Singer-turned-actor Lu Han issued a statement on Monday calling for regulating market behavior and a rational way of celebrity worship, after one of his movies triggered controversy as a cinema where he will promote the film charged nearly 1,000 yuan ($141) for each ticket. 

Lu, who has more than 60 million followers on Chinese Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, will be present at the Shenzhen Broadway Cinemas in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province on Friday, the day the Chinese sci-fi movie Shanghai Fortress premieres.

Following his announcement, ticket prices at the Shenzhen Broadway Cinemas reached as high as 903.80 yuan on Friday, with the cheapest at 403.80 yuan. However, a ticket for the same movie in other cities sells for less than 100 yuan. 

Lu and his studio have always opposed unreasonable ticket pricing, and appealed to fans to idolize celebrities in a rational way, Lu's studio said in a statement. 

Producers of Shanghai Fortress also announced on its Weibo that it opposes price hikes of some cinemas and opposes scalpers who sell tickets at unreasonably high prices.

The steep prices triggered controversy online, as many Weibo users urge moviegoers nationwide to say no to cinemas selling overpriced tickets. 

Adapted from a novel by the same title by Jiang Nan, Shanghai Fortress will be premiered on Friday in China. The film tells of Shanghai's battle to defend itself from an attack by an alien force that has attacked numerous cities around the world in its quest to harvest a hidden energy only found on earth. 

Global Times