Screw Tibet: Hollywood Embraces China's Censorship

Screw Tibet: Hollywood Embraces China's Censorship - Big Hollywood

Cut! Hollywood threatened by creeping Chinese censorship

Hollywood's not "threatened" by "creeping Chinese Censorship." Hollywood is an accomplice in allowing itself to be censored in exchange for money. The same Hollywood that has crybabied for going on six decades now over the 1950's blacklist and all those years of self-censorship through the old production code, is now gleefully doing business with one of the worst human rights abusers in the world and willingly compromising its artistic vision...for cash.

Listen, I'm a strong believer in the idea that our popular culture can open the eyes of those living under repression – that it can tell them a better way of life is possible when the human spirit is released to its full potential. Hollywood willingly censoring its product to satisfy a repressive government, however, is doing the exact opposite of that.

They're in business with the bad guys and should be ashamed of themselves.

Wash Times:

Currently, the Chinese have a quota system that allows for the domestic release of 34 foreign films per year, with at least 14 of those having to be in IMAX or 3-D. American-Chinese Hollywood co-productions are increasingly common. “Iron Man 3,” for example, will tap both Chinese shooting locations and funding sources.
As Chinese market clout and direct involvement in production continue to grow, American films hoping to play in China have much to lose by offending the sensibilities of the nation’s rulers. “The Dark Knight,” for example, did not play in China because of a sequence where Batman kidnaps a Chinese businessman out of Hong Kong in defiance of international laws.
Perhaps the most startling example of a de facto Chinese veto power over Hollywood content is the upcoming “Red Dawn.” A remake of the 1984 film about teenage partisans resisting a Soviet invasion of the U.S., the new film was shot with Chinese soldiers conquering America. Financial problems caused MGM to shelve the movie for years, and then came the news: The studio had ordered the filmmakers to replace the Chinese invaders in post-production. “Red Dawn” would now revolve instead around a North Korean conquest of the United States.
Mr. Cain, who covers Hollywood’s involvement in China on his ChinaFilmBiz blog, expects to see Hollywood grow increasingly deferential to the concerns of Chinese officials.
“Around two thirds of the global box office comes from overseas,” Mr. Cain said. “This year, about 10 percent of Hollywood’s grosses will come from China. Because of the import regulations, American producers only get about half as much of the take as anywhere else, so it’s roughly about 5 percent of their revenue. But that number’s going up so quickly that by the end of this decade it’s probably going to be close to 20 percent.”

"Free Tibet" is so 1993.

Box Office Preview: Pre-Holiday Fireworks Expected for 'Ted,' 'Magic Mike'

A raunchy stuffed animal and a posse of male strippers go to battle this weekend at the domestic box office as Hollywood readies for the lucrative July 4th holiday.

Univeral's R-rated comedy Ted, starring Mark Wahlberg opposite a teddy bear, has a good chance of besting holdover Brave for the weekend crown with a debut in the $35 million to $40 million range on the strength of younger males (the studio is predicting a more conservative $26 million to $35 million).

Directed by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Ted was packaged and fully financed for $50 million by Media Rights Capital.

Opinion is divided as to how much Brave will gross in its second weekend after opening to a stellar $66.3 million last weekend. If the film drops 50 percent, it will earn $33 million; if it drops 40 percent, it will gross $40 million.

The wild card of the weekend is Steven Soderbergh's male-stripper dramedy Magic Mike, loosely based onChanning Tatum's early days as an exotic dancer. The film's cast also includes Matthew McConaughey andAlex Pettfyer.

Warner Bros. acquired North American rights to Magic Mike for only $7 million.

Magic Mike, benefiting from intense interest among women, has racked up strong advance ticket sales, in line with previous female-skewing films, including fellow Warner pic Sex and the City. Warners is predicting an opening in the $15 million to $20 million range for Magic Mike, although other box office observers believe it could earn as much as $25 million.

Magic Mike should see strong midnight business on Thursday.

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The weekend's other two new entires are Tyler Perry's latest outing Madea's Witness Protection, from Lionsgate, and DreamWorks and Disney's adult Adult Drama, directed by Alex Kurtzman and starring Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Witness Protection -- which is tracking strongly among black women -- could keep up with Magic Mike and debut in the $20 million to $25 million range, although Lionsgate puts the film's debut in the high teens.

Witness Protection is the first Perry film to be released in summer, and Lionsgate is betting on good midweek business over July 4th week.

People Like Us, going out in a smaller number of theaters than its rivals, is expected to open in the $5 million to $7 million range, a soft start for the DreamWorks film. The hope is that the movie will serve as counter-programming throughout the holiday period.

In New York and Los Angeles, People Like Us could end up competing with Fox Searchlight's critically acclaimed Beasts of the Southern Wild for adult attention. Beasts, an early awards contender, opened on Wednesday to promising numbers for an arthouse title, grossing $27,175 from four theaters in Ne York and Los Angeles for a location average of $6,794.