Is Hollywood now doing Chinese appeasement with its big releases?
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This includes bringing Chinese government regulators onto their film sets to advise "on how to avoid tripping the censors' wires” like how it was done on the sets of Marvel’s 2013 film ‘Iron Man 3’.
In a report published in The Hollywood Reporter citing work of PEN America, Hollywood seems to be doing Chinese appeasement for its big films so as to avoid ban and tapping into that market. Titled ‘made in Hollywood, censored by Beijing’, the 94-page stuy details how major studios and A-list directors are increasingly making decisions -- including cast, plot, dialogue and settings "based on an effort to avoid antagonizing Chinese officials."
This includes bringing Chinese government regulators onto their film sets to advise "on how to avoid tripping the censors' wires” like how it was done on the sets of Marvel’s 2013 film ‘Iron Man 3’.
The same was reportedly done on the sets of ‘Dr. Strange’, ‘World War Z’ and the upcoming ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.
It is being done reportedly to earn the moolah. American movies earned $2.6 billion in China in 2019, with Disney's ‘Avengers: Endgame’ pulling in $614 million there alone.
The report lays out the growing phenomenon of self-censorship among the studios, fearful of having their films denied entry in the Chinese market and the ways in which flattering the government has become a powerful incentive as it can lead to better release dates, preferential advertising arrangements and a more friendly relationship with Chinese investors and regulators.