Posted on 05/30/2022 8:46:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Top Gun: Maverick is giving star Tom Cruise his biggest opening weekend of all time as the unofficial start to summer and the blockbuster movie season begins. The film has already grossed $150 million domestically and promises to do boffo business in the coming weeks.
But there’s one market that may never see the film released. The 1.2 billion consumers of American pop culture in China may not be allowed to see the film because of its unabashedly pro-American messaging.
Paramount Pictures may have also upset the Chinese by adding back Japanese and Taiwanese flags to Cruise’s leather flight jacket after the Chinese backer of the film, Tencent, demanded they be removed in 2019.
There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket – only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)…
pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2019
Tencent Holdings pulled out of the picture when it became clear the pro-American messaging wouldn’t sit well with their masters in Beijing.
The reason: Tencent executives backed out of the $170 million Paramount Pictures production after they grew concerned that Communist Party officials in Beijing would be angry about the company’s affiliation with a movie celebrating the American military, according to people familiar with the matter.
Association with a pro-American story grew radioactive as relations between the U.S. and China devolved, the people added. The about-face turned “Top Gun: Maverick” from a movie that once symbolized deepening ties between China and Hollywood into a fresh example of the broader tensions forming between the U.S. and China.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
SOURCE:
[EXCERPT]
The blockbuster has not been given a release date in China, the world’s biggest movie box office worth $7.3 billion as of 2021.
Meanwhile, at the movie premiere in Taiwan, the audiences cheered and clapped at the unexpected sight of their national flag, the Central News Agency of Taiwan reported. Some people even flocked to buy copies of the jacket, which is being sold at the price of $1,449.
“To be honest, Tom doesn’t necessarily have to wear the same jacket in the opening scene. There’s no way film producers didn’t know the Republic of China flag would cross the Chinese Communist Party’s red line,” a Taiwanese film writer, who goes by the moniker Knee Joint, wrote on Facebook. Republic of China is the official name of Taiwan. “But they still did it anyway.”
Watch Twitter turn against it
👍👍👍
Watch Mitch McConnell and Biden turn against it.
Nice amount of action, not enough depth to the students but I think that has to do with there being so many of them. It would have required twice the run time to flesh them out.
But I have to say what I found the most appealing (aside from Bob) was the lack of "As a black man" "As a woman" "As a hispanic" "As a neo-divergent sim with a fetish for Irises". None of that. Just a bunch of Americans doing their best to be what is needed.
What a pleasant surprise!!!
F the ChiComs!
MAGA forever!!!
Watch the whole darn communist UniParty turn against it.
Well gosh darn it, that's just too bad. Note to self: Never say to Tom Cruise's face "I am your God" (nsfw), and never tell him how he is going to make what is most definitely his own movie.
G
Chuck Fina!
/thing is its a guided missle cruiser. what was a fighter jock doing on it?
Unless they've significantly enhanced those missiles, they typically can't out-run F-18s, or just about any other fighter jet!
I won't say anything else, for fear of spoiling the movie for those who have not yet seen it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
