While we learned a few hours ago that Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness should not be released in China, for particular reasons, we now know those which prompted the Chinese authorities to refuse Spider-Man: No Way Home on their ground.
A hit, even without the Chinese box office
Spider-Man: No Way Home was a huge hit at the global box office. If a big score was expected, Jon Watts’ film swallowed everything in its path, doubling films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2Where avengersbecoming the 6th highest-grossing feature film of all time with $1.8 billion in revenue.
A great feat for the film bringing together the 3 Peter Parkers, but which could have climbed further in the rankings if it had been released in China. EIndeed, the film was not released in the Middle Kingdom due to censorship requests deemed too important, refused by Marvel and Sony.
aberrant requests
China had somewhat excessive demands that No Way Home comes out in its halls: the censor board reportedly asked Marvel Studios and Sony to remove the Statue of Libertythe place where the final battle takes place.
It would then also have been requested that shots featuring Tom Holland on the crown be removed and the lighting reduced so that the Statue is as inconspicuous as possible. Requirements once again pushed back.
One of the authors of Puck.news, investigative media specializing in the backstage of Hollywood or Wall Street said that:
The Chinese then asked if the statue could just be downplayed in the footage: if Sony could cut out some of Holland’s more patriotic shots, like the one where he stands atop the crown, or dim the lighting so that Lady Liberty’s face is not as visible.
Sony thought about this request, but ultimately refused according to my sources, knowing that this refusal almost certainly meant the loss of a potentially huge salary in China. Could the studio have made these changes? Perhaps, but it would have caused a media storm in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Moreover, even with the changes, there was no guarantee that No Way Home would be welcomed in the country, and even if it was, American films don’t do as well in China as they used to. A rather easy decision to make.”
Marvel and China: it’s complicated
It is true that the Chinese box office seems to be heading less and less towards American productions. On his side, No Way Home isn’t the first movie in the Marvel Universe not to be released in China. In reality, no film from the house of ideas since Avengers: Endgame was screened in Chinese theatres, let’s mention Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, or The Eternals who skipped over it. The last MCU movie won’t be the last either, since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness should also be censored.
If we thought that, as for the character of Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) in The Eternalsit was the sexual orientation of the character of America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) which could have pushed the Chinese censorship committee and the authorities to cancel the release of the film, the reason is quite different.
It’s about of a detail present on a plan above and presenting the symbols of a kiosk referring to The Epoch Times. It is a multilingual newspaper founded in May 2000 anda media company openly opposed to the Chinese Communist Party.
The film will be released, in any case, well in French cinemas. It will be May 4, tomorrow.