‘Transformers’ deal leads to lawsuit
Print Edition
A BEIJING property developer said yesterday it has terminated cooperation with the new “Transformers” movie, wants Paramount Pictures to make edits to it and is asking China to suspend screenings of the blockbuster film.
The company owns the Pangu Plaza, a dragon-shaped hotel, office and mall complex that is featured in “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” the latest installment of the hit franchise.
Beijing Pangu Investment Co said in a statement that Paramount and two Chinese associate partners failed to fulfill their obligations in a sponsorship deal.
“The loss of rights and interests not only caused the Pangu company’s original business plan to fail, incurring huge losses, more seriously, it has affected Pangu Plaza’s image and reputation,” the statement said.
Broken promises
Pangu said it is suing its Chinese partners for contract fraud and demanding Paramount delete scenes from the movie that feature images of its logo or properties.
It said it has also asked the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to suspend or stop screenings of the movie, which is due to open on China’s mainland on Friday.
Pangu said it provided at least 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million) in funding and that its local partners failed to deliver on pledges to hold the premiere at Pangu’s hotel and feature images of its property in trailers and movie posters.
Instead, the film’s worldwide premiere was held in Hong Kong on Thursday and was attended by stars Mark Wahlberg and the good-guy robot, Optimus Prime.
The Hong Kong debut, ahead of the movie’s launch in New York next week, is another sign of Hollywood’s increasing focus on China’s booming film market, which is now the world’s second-largest.
Box-office revenue in the country rose 27.5 percent last year to US$3.6 billion.
The property developer also said its local partners told Pangu it would be allowed to manufacture and sell “Transformers” merchandise authorized by Paramount and hold an exhibition of the movie’s filmmaking equipment on its premises for at least eight months.
The statement, however, did not say whether Paramount was aware that its local partners were making such promises.
It said the hotel hosted senior executives from Paramount and Jiaflix as well as the movie’s director Michael Bay and its crew, for whom the company facilitated the shooting of the Pangu Plaza and surrounding areas.
Paramount did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment while calls to the Chinese partners named in Pangu’s statement — Jiaflix China and the Beijing Chengxin Shengshi Sports Culture Development Co — went unanswered.
In a separate statement issued later yesterday, Pangu said it was contacted by executives from Paramount and the US parent of Jiaflix after it announced the contract termination.
Pangu said there were significant discrepancies between the contract it signed with its local partners and a deal Paramount signed with them.
Calls to the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing, where a lawsuit has reportedly been filed, and the film regulator also went unanswered yesterday.
Other scenes in the movie that were shot in China feature the Great Wall in Beijing and the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou.
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