Our newspaper's special correspondent Dong Ming
Editor's note: "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" originally scheduled to be released in Mainland China on the 25th, was temporarily withdrawn. According to U.S. media reports, the reason stems from the controversy that caused the "ugl Bruce Lee" before, but director Quentin Tarantino said that he did not plan to edit again, which may eventually make the film miss the Chinese screen. In fact, as Hollywood pays more and more attention to overseas markets, including China, making special modifications to films in different countries and regions has become a basic operation for many filmmakers. It is common for
to be deleted. It is not common for
to fail to release because of "refusing to delete". After all, this is a huge loss for the producer. Usually for the benefit of overseas markets, the film party will make appropriate adjustments and deletions. For example, when "Wolverine", which was rated as "R-rated" in North America, was released in China, some too bloody scenes in the climax scene were deleted. The famous "long church killing scene" in "Ace Agent" was also caused by being too violent. It does not appear in the Chinese version.
In response to the different national conditions and policy requirements of different countries, Hollywood films will "go home and follow the customs" when they are released overseas. For example, in the more conservative Middle East, overly revealing scenes will be deleted. In addition, when "Black Panther" and "Avengers 3" were released in Indonesia, some violent scenes and sounds were deleted. When the famous British musician Elton John's biopic "Rocket Man" was released in Russia, all scenes and dialogues involving homosexuality were deleted. When "The Wolf of Wall Street" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was released in India and Singapore, it was also reduced due to a large amount of sex, drugs and foul language content.
customization is also a bonus
Nowadays, Hollywood pays special attention to overseas markets. In addition to deleting clips to reduce unnecessary disputes, it will also add "customized clips" in different country versions to please local audiences.
In Disney's "Zoo City", there is a "live news" plot that differs from country to country: in the version seen by Chinese audiences, the TV host is a panda; viewers in Australia and New Zealand see a koala; The Americans and Europeans saw moose and snow leopards; the Japanese saw the Japanese raccoon, a raccoon-like animal (pictured above left).
is not limited to cartoons that gain audience favor with details. In Marvel's "Captain America 2", the "Captain's Task List (to help him familiarize himself with modern life-Editor's Note)", although only a flash notebook, but the text records the history and culture most familiar to the locals event. For example, the Russian version reads astronaut Yuri Gagarin, the French version lists the 1998 World Cup, and the Korean version is the country’s football star Park Ji-sung (pictured above right). In addition to the above-mentioned special customization to be close to local audiences,
also has a background introduction for more than a minute in the overseas release for the convenience of foreign audiences who do not understand American history, like the movie "Lincoln". This is actually for the film to sell better at the box office.
accounted for the bulk of overseas
. The reason why Hollywood filmmakers attach so much importance to overseas markets and intimately provide audiences in Asia, Europe, and Oceania with "customized special offers" is mainly because in recent years overseas accounts for the increasing share of US movies in the global box office Higher. According to data from the American market research company ComScore, the global movie box office reached 41.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, and Hollywood generated revenue of about 29.075 billion U.S. dollars. Hollywood, especially commercial entertainment blockbusters, has an obvious international trend. For example, in the blockbuster film "Avengers 3" in 2018, the global gross box office of "Avengers 3" is US$2 billion, and the overseas box office is US$1.37 billion. Others like "Jurassic World 2" "Mission 6" and other films also have more than 60% of overseas revenue. "Aquaman" and "Venom" accounted for 75% of the overseas box office. In particular, "Aquaman" relied on the early release of the Chinese market to drive local and global enthusiasm. Hollywood filmmakers see huge commercial potential in overseas markets such as China.
China has surpassed Japan and Britain and France to become Hollywood’s largest overseas market. Traditional filmmakers such as Disney and Warner are not only willing to produce "special Chinese editions" to cater to the tastes of Chinese audiences, but also often synchronize the Chinese premiere schedule with North America Even ahead, and as far as possible to allow Hollywood star creators to go to China to promote, such as Disney's "superhero" meeting held in Shanghai, it played a hard-to-find, eager to watch the "eyeball" effect. Cooperation with
is the mainstream
Of course, if it is popular, there will be unpopularity. The theme and starring of some movies are determined no matter whatThe deletion will also make viewers in certain countries and regions feel uncomfortable, and in the end they can only miss the local theater. "The Wolf of Wall Street" was closed in Malaysia and Nepal at the beginning, "Wonder Woman" was not released in Lebanon because the heroine Gail Gadot was Israeli, and "Brokeback Mountain" was unable to enter most of the Middle East because of the same sex plot. area.
returns to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" itself. In fact, Bruce Lee’s appearance in the film is not absolutely necessary. Deleting it will not have much impact on the plot. Director Tarantino’s insistence is more likely to care about his own "artist creations". "Power", this can be regarded as a "heterogeneous" in Hollywood's business philosophy system. However, in the view of Hollywood producer Chris Fenton, Chinese and American films need exchanges and cooperation, because while creating commercial success, it can also lay a solid foundation for diplomatic relations between the two countries.
