As Disney's latest blockbuster Avengers: Endgame has smashed box office records across the globe, some Chinese netizens found the film's secret picturesque headquarters looked like the U.S. headquarters of Chinese machinery producer Sany Heavy Industry Co.
"It's true, the movie team rented Sany's U.S. headquarters for the shooting," a source who was familiar with the matter and preferred to be anonymous confirmed with the Global Times on Sunday.
"The Chinese company and the movie team signed a confidential agreement at that time. So there was no publicity," the source said.
After the shooting was completed, the movie team restored the interior to the original look, which was changed for the filming, and only left a piece of gray wall remaining that looked like scenes in Avengers 4, according to media reports.
Established in 1989 in Central China's Hunan Province, Sany is one of the largest equipment manufacturers in the world. It mainly focuses on construction machines.
Its Americas headquarters is based in Peachtree City, in the U.S. state of Georgia, with 340,000 square feet (31,587 square meters) of manufacturing space and 60,000 square feet of office space. Excavators are assembled at the facility, which has the capacity to produce more than 2,000 units per year.
Domestic netizens cheered the news that a Chinese company's building could be shown in such a blockbuster, which seemingly also helped them form closer ties to the superheroes.
Some made jokes on Weibo, saying that "was Iron Man an excavator manufacturer in his previous life?" "If someone asks which company is good at making excavators, go to the Avengers' headquarters!"
"It's quite amazing, as the spot where the time machine was put in the movie was where excavators were parked in the company," a netizen with the nickname Iron Man said Sunday.
Others also said they felt "proud" that a Chinese company was chosen to be on screen in a popular movie.
Sany America plans to grow from a company of $80 million to one of $1 billion company in five years in a market that is "particularly mature" for excavators, the Xinhua News Agency reported on April 5, citing Doug Friesen, CEO of Sany America. The first excavator rolled off the U.S. production line in February 2012.
