Brad Pitt Hints He's Coming to China

BEIJING–At noon on Monday, Brad Pitt joined China’s massive microblogging service Sina Weiboand issued a short missive as open to interpretation as his Chanel No. 5 ads.

“It is the truth. Yup, I’m coming…” Pitt posted in his verified account.

The words sent his Chinese fans into a tizzy. Within hours, his profile gained over 101,000 followers, over 30,000 retweets and more than 13,000 comments on the service that has 400 million registered users.

With China’s rapidly growing movie market, a Hollywood celebrity popping up in Beijing or Shanghai has become a common sight. Keanu Reeves was seen wandering the old hutong alleyways of Beijing last year.  Months earlier, Gwyneth Paltrow jumped onstage and started singing at a Beijing nightclub.  Even Louis C.K. showed up to do his routine for packed crowd at a Peking Opera theater back in June.

But Pitt has never been seen in China.  Pitt has been effectively barred from entering the country since he starred in the 1997 film