Will Spider-Man 3 swing into Chinese theaters first?

That's what some people are saying. According to China Radio International, the Shanghai Morning Post reported earlier this week that Spider-Man 3, expected to be one of the summer's biggest blockbuster movies, got the seal of approval from China's censors and will "open in theaters on the Chinese mainland on May 1, even though it won't be released in the United States until May 4." Pacific Epoch also reports this, citing the Legal Evening News as its source. They say the movie will appear "in theaters in Beijing on May 1." If true, moviegoers in China will be the first in the world (aside from those at the Tokyo world premiere on April 16) to witness "a strange black entity from another world bond with Peter Parker and cause inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge."

But is it true? IMDb still lists the China release date at May 5. And the official Spider-Man 3 site doesn't mention China at all (but it does list Hong Kong and Taiwan). And what of the claim that people in China will see the movie before Americans do? That doesn't seem to be that big of a deal, after all. Here's a list of other countries granted that honor: Japan, Belgium, Egypt, France, Jordan, Philippines, Argentina, Australia, Germany, Greece, Israel, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Holland, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro, Switzerland, Slovakia, Finland, Ukraine, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. Just to name a few.