We already knew that the Chinese Communist Party wanted to manipulate the box office last year in order to give a Chinese-made movie an opportunity to become the first Chinese top-grossing film in a single year. Unfortunately for the CCP, Sony’s Spider-Man No Way Home came out and blew everything out of the water. In just the weeks it was available in 2021, it out-grossed everything else globally. That was without ever appearing in China — a country that had given Sony hundreds of millions of dollars towards their prior Spidey theatrical releases. Thus, “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” an Anti-American war film, would have to settle for second place.
But China didn’t even allow Sony to release Spider-Man No Way Home in Chinese theaters for 2022. Until recently we didn’t know why. Sure, the theaters are almost totally closed now as China has entered into an extreme lockdown but everything was wide-open pre-Olympics. What was the issue?
Enter Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni:
According to multiple sources, when the authorities got back to Sony, they had a request: Delete the Statue of Liberty from the ending of the film. Yes, seriously. As anyone who’s seen No Way Home knows, the entire climactic action sequence takes place with a trio of Spider-Men swinging over and around Lady Liberty as they battle the supervillains. Plus, without getting too into MCU plot points, the Statue plays a larger role in the Marvel movies. It was an outrageous ask.
Not only was the CCP frustrated that Spider-Man beat their top movie but they also were further stymied when they attempted to get Sony to acquiesce their demand that the American symbol for liberty be removed from the film. In a turn of events that everyone who loves freedom should support, Sony accepted making less money in order to preserve the film. Sony said “no.”
But that’s not the best part. The truly great thing is that then the CCP asked Sony to at least dim the Statue of Liberty so that it wasn’t really recognizable. Again, Sony said “no.” Even at a cost of millions of dollars of profit, a company founded in Japan did more to stand up against Anti-American and Anti-Western propaganda than many of the companies from the United States would do.
Kudos to Sony for standing up and doing the right thing. Some companies might even shrink minorities on their posters to appease the Chinese but Sony is not in that category. Great job to Tony Vinciquerra and Tom Rothman of Sony for not caving in, even if it meant less money in the coffers. The good will such an action deserves from consumers everywhere ought to dwarf any amount of money they lost.
Oh and China, this one is for you:
For all the news that should be fun, keep checking out That Park Place. If you’re encouraged by Sony’s stance in favor of the Statue of Liberty, let us know in the comments below!
Good for Sony! I’m glad they refused to self-censor.