By Andrea Miller | Thursday, May 26, 2011

James Cameron shouldn't feel too badly that it took 3D nudity to best his cinematic phenomenon Avatar at the box office. Hong Kong's adult flick 3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy beat out Cameron's fantastical tale about blue aliens and now has a chance to titillate audiences in the West as U.S. and Canadian distribution rights have been secured.

The film, with a cast that includes Japanese porn stars, follows a sexually frustrated teacher in Ancient China who ends up in a harem, and finds time to include sword fighting, plenty of special effects, and as promised, sex, while making use of one of Hollywood's favourite trends, 3D.

It is just like being a voyeur near someone's bed," said Stephen Shiu Yeuk-Yuen, who produced what is being billed as the world's first erotic 3D film.

The distribution deal was finalized at Cannes and China Lion Film Distribution, who bought the North American film rights, are still determining the date and size of the film's eventual theatrical run but expect a conveniently massive release.

"We're looking at as wide as possible a release for this groundbreaking film in North America," the company's CEO, Milt Barlow, told the Hollywood Reporter. 3D Sex and Zen beat Avatar's opening day gross and then sold out during its entire first week playing in Hong Kong.

The erotic Ming Dynasty-set film is adapted from the classic Chinese novel "The Carnal Prayer Mat."