Screenings of Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino's Academy Award-winning revenge drama, was suddenly suspended at theaters on Thursday, its opening day in China.

Four theaters confirmed to China Daily that they received a notice on Thursday morning from China Film Group, the State-owned enterprise that has the exclusive right to import foreign films, requiring the film to be pulled from theaters nationwide for "technical reasons".

A theater manager who asked to remain anonymous said he was startled to see the notice.