When China wanted movie studios to change some scenes in “Spider-Man No Way Home” in order to secure a release in the country, Sony Pictures refused to do it.
Iconic Point In Movie
Everyone loves a good ending to a movie. For “Spider-Man Far From Home,” the ending was the three spidermans swinging around the Statue of Liberty fighting the villains. [1]
Censor The Movie
In late 2021 when “Spider-Man Far From Home” was released, China demanded that the Statue of Liberty be removed from the last scene. When Sony Pictures responded that they would not edit it out, China was not phased by it. They than asked if Lady Liberty could be blurred out and minimized. Specifically they stated:
if Sony could cut a few of the more patriotic shots of [Tom] Holland standing atop the crown, or dull the lighting so that Lady Liberty’s visage wasn’t so front-and-center, [2]
No Bowing Down
Sony did not bow down to China’s demand. For both requests they said no. The Statue of Liberty often represents freedom and justice which people might argue, that China does not have.
Results Of The Response
In return to Sony’s response, China banned the movie from the country. Some estimations are that this likely cost the film between $170 and $340 million dollars. [3]
Notes:
- ^https://puck.news/the-chinese-had-one-note-on-spider-man/ (go back ↩)
- ^https://nypost.com/2022/05/03/sony-rejects-chinas-censorship-request-in-spiderman/ (go back ↩)
- ^https://www.dailywire.com/news/sony-refused-to-censor-spider-man-no-way-home-for-china-sacrificing-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars (go back ↩)
