Top grossing 'Transformers 4' hit by lawsuit
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, July 8, 2014
The unstoppable "Transformers 4," which became the highest grossing film ever in China on Monday, got hit with a lawsuit by a natural scenery spot.
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A snapshot of "Transformers 4" |
According to the newest data, the alien robot blockbuster "Transformers: Age of Extinction," directed by Michael Bay, had raked in more than 1.426 billion yuan (US$228.3 million) in China by Monday night, passing the 1.378 billion yuan (US$220.62 million) record set by "Avatar" in 2010.
That same day, however, Chongqing's Wulong Karst National Geology Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, hit the film with an announcement that it will sue the producers of "Transformers 4" for failing to show its logo in the movie.
Wulong reportedly paid the producers US$1 million to promote the area in the movie. The site also closed for five days to accommodate the film shooting, equating a loss of s 4 million yuan (US$640,400) in tourism revenue.
The producers had promised to show the Wulong logo onscreen in the scene before autobot leader Optimus Prime tames the Dinobots. But the logo is nowhere to be found. The film also combined images of Wulong with scenes shot in Hong Kong, which misrepresented the location of Wulong as being close to Hong Kong when it is in fact more than 1,200 km away, confusing the audience.
Huang Daosheng, general manager of Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism (Group) Co. Ltd., the company that operates the scenic spot, said it will sue both Paramount Pictures and the movie's associated Chinese production company, 1905 Internet Technology Co. Ltd. of Beijing (M1905.com), requiring them to take responsibility after the settlement negotiation failed.
Liang Longfei, deputy general manager of M1905.com, explained in a statement that the company was sorry for not including Wulong's logo in "Transformers 4." But he also pointed out that the reason was because Wulong didn't pay the money in time for Paramount Pictures to confirm the placement. Until April 14, the money hadn't arrived. Liang said the production time was limited and they worked under high intensity; additionally, he said the foreign filmmaking team don't understand Chinese and mistakenly used the other stone stele as the logo.
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