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

《變形金剛4》廣告植入惹麻煩中國武隆不滿沒名字

《變形金剛4：絕跡重生》內(nèi)地上映4天吸金已過7億。植入該片的中國元素和中國品牌不少，其中外景地之一的重慶武隆景區(qū)享有“重頭戲”。讓重慶武景區(qū)方失望的是，劇組此前承諾在片中顯著位置標(biāo)注“中國武隆”四個(gè)大字，竟在片中銷聲匿跡。

2日，人在北京的黃道生在接受華西都市報(bào)記者采訪時(shí)說：“當(dāng)時(shí)和電影片方約定，我們明確要在電影里出現(xiàn)‘中國武隆’四個(gè)字，結(jié)果電影里這四個(gè)字根本沒有，我們感到非常遺憾�！弊岦S道生還感到郁悶的是，機(jī)器恐龍居然從郁郁蔥蔥的武隆山區(qū)徑直跑到了香港鬧市，導(dǎo)致了不少觀眾觀影時(shí)地理位置錯(cuò)亂�！艾F(xiàn)在不光有網(wǎng)友說武隆是香港的后花園，而且還有人說香港是武隆的縣城�！秉S道生很不滿地說。

此外，《變4》的拍攝地美國芝加哥和中國廣州、北京、香港等地，均有字幕注明地點(diǎn)，唯獨(dú)重慶武隆被遺忘了。黃道生說：“沒有‘中國武隆’這四個(gè)字，很難讓人知道這是在哪兒拍的！我們的宣傳效果根本沒有達(dá)到預(yù)期�！秉S道生表示，當(dāng)時(shí)選擇和《變4》合作，就是要借助該片在全球超高的人氣，進(jìn)而打響重慶武隆作為世界自然遺產(chǎn)在全球的知名度。據(jù)了解，為了能在電影里出現(xiàn)武隆景區(qū)的風(fēng)貌和關(guān)于武隆的字樣，武隆給片方砸了至少100萬美金的植入廣告費(fèi)。

黃道生說，現(xiàn)在暫時(shí)還無法估算片方疏忽給景區(qū)帶來的經(jīng)濟(jì)損失，不過為了把損失降低到最小，他才第一時(shí)間飛到北京和制片方之一的1905電影網(wǎng)進(jìn)行磋商和談判。他說：“我們給對(duì)方提出了兩個(gè)要求，第一要求有電影主創(chuàng)參加的新聞發(fā)布會(huì)，片方必須要向公眾進(jìn)行說明失誤的原因；第二，因?yàn)槲覀兊暮献骺铐?xiàng)不是一次性打給片方，所以需要對(duì)方減少后續(xù)的相應(yīng)費(fèi)用。”

與武隆景區(qū)簽訂合作協(xié)議的并非電影出品方派拉蒙，而是電影聯(lián)合制片方之一的1905電影網(wǎng)，雙方于2013年10月21日正式就武隆縣植入電影《變形金剛4》達(dá)成合作。華西都市報(bào)記者也采訪到了1905電影網(wǎng)負(fù)責(zé)人梁龍飛，他承認(rèn)了未出現(xiàn)“中國武隆”是片方“自擺烏龍”。但他說，這次失誤也有其客觀原因，“根據(jù)合約，武隆在去年11月份就應(yīng)該把相關(guān)款項(xiàng)按照比例支付給派拉蒙，款項(xiàng)不到是沒法確定做特效的。我們也給派拉蒙明確提出了電影里要出現(xiàn)‘中國武隆’四個(gè)字，刻這四字的石碑也做了四個(gè)版本，可是由于對(duì)方遲付了五個(gè)月，導(dǎo)致最后制作時(shí)間非常緊，到上映前的兩三個(gè)月電影特效才完成了35%，美國的制作公司ILM又不懂中文，最后忙中出錯(cuò)，最后把青龍橋看成了‘中國武隆’。”

對(duì)于1905電影網(wǎng)的說法，黃道生又進(jìn)行了兩點(diǎn)反駁，他說：“首先我們并不是故意不延遲付款，因?yàn)槲覀冊(cè)蚱教岢鲆�，要看過電影腳本后才能打款，對(duì)方也同意了，后來也遲遲不給我們腳本，我們是出于對(duì)他們的信任和之前有良好的合作基礎(chǔ)，最后才把款項(xiàng)打給對(duì)方。其次，派拉蒙作為這么嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)碾娪肮荆趺纯赡軙?huì)把‘青龍橋’看成了‘中國武隆’？這是一個(gè)非常低級(jí)的錯(cuò)誤�！� 華西都市報(bào)記者楊帆

對(duì)于2日武隆方面提出的補(bǔ)救要求，梁龍飛說：“發(fā)布會(huì)是可以開，但是只能由我們雙方共同出面，甚至派拉蒙也可以發(fā)布第三方情況說明，但邀請(qǐng)主創(chuàng)參加是很不現(xiàn)實(shí)的�！绷糊堬w表示，片方是帶著積極的態(tài)度來解決問題，現(xiàn)在給武隆做出了兩個(gè)承諾：“首先會(huì)在影片的DVD發(fā)行和其他新媒體版本中，加上中國重慶武隆的標(biāo)志。同時(shí)，片方已發(fā)給重慶武隆方面一個(gè)帶有中國重慶武隆標(biāo)志的短片供景區(qū)宣傳�！�

不過，黃道生對(duì)此好像表示并不滿意，他說：“電影都已經(jīng)上映了，這些措施基本無法對(duì)景區(qū)進(jìn)行彌補(bǔ)。我們還會(huì)繼續(xù)和1905談判，如果解決不好就訴諸法律。”

梁龍飛透露，武隆給《變4》的植入廣告費(fèi)用并不是里面最高的。他認(rèn)為，就算談判破裂和武隆方面對(duì)簿公堂，1905電影網(wǎng)也無懼自身信譽(yù)受損�！拔覀兊墓ぷ魇钦J(rèn)真負(fù)責(zé)的，我們也能代表客戶向片方爭(zhēng)取到最大利益�！�