Right, but since China restricts which movies get shown there the studios have a huge incentive to not to do anything to piss China off.

I think that is really bad. I don't see what can be done about it, but it is still bad.

Another thing I don't really like: the high budget films get revenue all around the world. So if you make a high budget film, you have to be constantly asking will this film work in a lot of different places and different cultures. So fast paced action films with not very subtle dialogue travel well, more nuanced films frequently don't. Not that action films are bad, but I would rather see more variety.

Totally agree. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at the listings for the 18plex near me and lamented that there are only 6-8 movies playing there, and even when there is more variety, I wonder how the hell most of those got made. But I also know that alot of movies are made with financing from wealthy individuals looking for a play date with Hollywood. They get the best experience with assholes who care more about the party than the film they are making.

When I went to film school, I truly believed that no one set out to make a piece of shit. 20 years later, I know they plan it that way sometimes. It was a pretty rude awakening. (I am obviously allowing for the Corman/Troma fringe to exist in its limited influence outside of that judgement!)

okay, here is the deal. if these hollywood execs were so worried about offending an entire nation of profit potential, why was this politeness not figured out until AFTER the movie was made? this makes no sense. thats like holding a clan rally and saying sorry afterwards that the sheets were offensive. i am curious how much money this movie made in china for hollywood. i had a thread with links to other articles, but that site is no longer around. will try and refind.

this was clear cut extortion by the chinese government. :D

Because the studio that made it does not distribute their own movies. The changes were done in post, before distribution.

And I looked up the returns. It made next to nothing overseas, and was not released in China. As far as future concerns, that distributor has only 14 films showing on the charts, and none have had a China release, so it made zero difference.

Correction: One has a China release but it was a year before Red Dawn, so still no effect.

What a disaster of a film. It lost at least $30 million for that studio.

IIRC, it was in the can for more than 2 years before it was released, too.

i guess this sorta proves my point too. they spent how much money removing chinese symbols for nothing in return. i get the 'excuse', but to me it makes no sense.

Hopefully this along with some other remakes that tanked (Point Break and Ghostbusters, along with The Magnificent Seven not receiving great buzz before its release) will convince these studios that the public isn't as high on remakes as they were led to believe and start coming up with some original content.

The remake makes no sense...

There was no way this movie was ever going to be selected to be shown in China. I don't see this as extortion in any way shape or form.

Well if any media is saying that upsetting the Chinese is the reason they changed the movie (which, again, isn't what happened), then they're wrong.

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so they will manipulate their own people, but not from other countries?

shameless bump 5 years or so later!

was i wrong, in hindsight?

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I think you have to separate America the country from American businesses. American businesses (Hollywood included) have long catered to countries where they can make significant profits.

Hollywood, for example, prevented any negative films about Nazi Germany from being released until 1940.