The Hollywood film Django Unchained (2012) has been pulled from Chinese theatres on its opening day, despite weeks of promotion for director Quentin Tarantino's violent slave-revenge saga.

Movie theatres throughout China said Thursday that they were ordered to suspend the film. Employees at two Beijing movie theatres say an order issued by the importer, China Film Group Corporation, cited an unspecified technical problem with the film. The employees would not give their full names.

Calls to China Film Group and the government's film regulatory agency were unanswered.

Tarantino was allegedly asked to tone down the movie by cutting some violent scenes so the movie can pass China's rigorous censorship that generally targets violence, sex and politically edgy content.

With such an exacting system, suspension on a film's premiere date is unusual.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx.

Oscar-winning Django Unchained is a Western movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino

Django Unchained (2012) trailer.