Another China woe for 'Transformers 4'

2014-07-03 16:18 Ecns.cn Web Editor: Yao Lan

Another China woe for 'Transformers 4'

(ECNS) -- The China issues are not over yet for Michael Bay's latest "Transformers" film. After settling a dispute with a Chinese company only days before, it is now accused of breaching its promise to label the distinctive Wulong landscape in the film.

The organizers of the Wulong landscape in southwest China's Chongqing, where several scenes of the film were shot, said the new movie had not fulfilled the contract obligations for the product-placement deal. Huang Daosheng, the head of landscape management committee, said they demanded that the words "Wulong, China" should appear in those scenes to let audience know where the landscape is.

But there were no such words, he complained, adding that the location of the following scenes in the film change to Hong Kong, giving people the impression that the two places are adjacent to each other.

Last year Huang signed a product-placement contract with M1095, a media subsidiary of China Movie Channel (CCTV6) and one of the two production and promotion partners of the "Transformers" film. It's reported that the Wulong landscape paid no less than one million dollars for the deal.

Liang Longfei, head of M1095, said that the film's production company in the US, where staff don't know Chinese, made a mistake for tight schedule.

Liang also said the Wulong landscape committee should also shoulder part of the responsibility, as they delayed paying the money for five months, resulting in a tighter schedule for the company.

Huang has arrived in Beijing to discuss the issue with M1095, and said: "If the result is not satisfactory, we will file a lawsuit."

The film's director Michael Bay said at the Hong Kong premiere that "China is so beautiful, especially the scenes in Wulong."

China's Pangu Investment Company announced that it has just settled its dispute with Paramount Pictures ahead of the release of "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" in China. The Beijing-based developer had filed a lawsuit against Paramount, accusing the movie company and its two Chinese partners of failing to include its landmark building in the movie as agreed.

Many Chinese brands have tried to feature in Hollywood blockbusters, such as Transformers 4, which features product placements by 25 Chinese brands, China Daily said, but it is still not easy for Chinese companies to have their products included in Hollywood blockbusters.

By Gu Liping

《变形金刚4》广告植入惹麻烦中国武隆不满没名字

《变形金刚4：绝迹重生》内地上映4天吸金已过7亿。植入该片的中国元素和中国品牌不少，其中外景地之一的重庆武隆景区享有“重头戏”。让重庆武景区方失望的是，剧组此前承诺在片中显著位置标注“中国武隆”四个大字，竟在片中销声匿迹。

2日，人在北京的黄道生在接受华西都市报记者采访时说：“当时和电影片方约定，我们明确要在电影里出现‘中国武隆’四个字，结果电影里这四个字根本没有，我们感到非常遗憾。”让黄道生还感到郁闷的是，机器恐龙居然从郁郁葱葱的武隆山区径直跑到了香港闹市，导致了不少观众观影时地理位置错乱。“现在不光有网友说武隆是香港的后花园，而且还有人说香港是武隆的县城。”黄道生很不满地说。

此外，《变4》的拍摄地美国芝加哥和中国广州、北京、香港等地，均有字幕注明地点，唯独重庆武隆被遗忘了。黄道生说：“没有‘中国武隆’这四个字，很难让人知道这是在哪儿拍的！我们的宣传效果根本没有达到预期。”黄道生表示，当时选择和《变4》合作，就是要借助该片在全球超高的人气，进而打响重庆武隆作为世界自然遗产在全球的知名度。据了解，为了能在电影里出现武隆景区的风貌和关于武隆的字样，武隆给片方砸了至少100万美金的植入广告费。

黄道生说，现在暂时还无法估算片方疏忽给景区带来的经济损失，不过为了把损失降低到最小，他才第一时间飞到北京和制片方之一的1905电影网进行磋商和谈判。他说：“我们给对方提出了两个要求，第一要求有电影主创参加的新闻发布会，片方必须要向公众进行说明失误的原因；第二，因为我们的合作款项不是一次性打给片方，所以需要对方减少后续的相应费用。”

与武隆景区签订合作协议的并非电影出品方派拉蒙，而是电影联合制片方之一的1905电影网，双方于2013年10月21日正式就武隆县植入电影《变形金刚4》达成合作。华西都市报记者也采访到了1905电影网负责人梁龙飞，他承认了未出现“中国武隆”是片方“自摆乌龙”。但他说，这次失误也有其客观原因，“根据合约，武隆在去年11月份就应该把相关款项按照比例支付给派拉蒙，款项不到是没法确定做特效的。我们也给派拉蒙明确提出了电影里要出现‘中国武隆’四个字，刻这四字的石碑也做了四个版本，可是由于对方迟付了五个月，导致最后制作时间非常紧，到上映前的两三个月电影特效才完成了35%，美国的制作公司ILM又不懂中文，最后忙中出错，最后把青龙桥看成了‘中国武隆’。”

对于1905电影网的说法，黄道生又进行了两点反驳，他说：“首先我们并不是故意不延迟付款，因为我们曾向片方提出要求，要看过电影脚本后才能打款，对方也同意了，后来也迟迟不给我们脚本，我们是出于对他们的信任和之前有良好的合作基础，最后才把款项打给对方。其次，派拉蒙作为这么严谨的电影公司，怎么可能会把‘青龙桥’看成了‘中国武隆’？这是一个非常低级的错误。” 华西都市报记者杨帆

对于2日武隆方面提出的补救要求，梁龙飞说：“发布会是可以开，但是只能由我们双方共同出面，甚至派拉蒙也可以发布第三方情况说明，但邀请主创参加是很不现实的。”梁龙飞表示，片方是带着积极的态度来解决问题，现在给武隆做出了两个承诺：“首先会在影片的DVD发行和其他新媒体版本中，加上中国重庆武隆的标志。同时，片方已发给重庆武隆方面一个带有中国重庆武隆标志的短片供景区宣传。”

不过，黄道生对此好像表示并不满意，他说：“电影都已经上映了，这些措施基本无法对景区进行弥补。我们还会继续和1905谈判，如果解决不好就诉诸法律。”

梁龙飞透露，武隆给《变4》的植入广告费用并不是里面最高的。他认为，就算谈判破裂和武隆方面对簿公堂，1905电影网也无惧自身信誉受损。“我们的工作是认真负责的，我们也能代表客户向片方争取到最大利益。”