Only about three dozen foreign movies make it onto China’s silver screens every year. To better their chances, Hollywood studios pander to Chinese audiences and regulators for the chance to double their box office earnings. Here are 10 examples of Western movies that altered their content to please the world’s biggest market of moviegoers.

1) Iron Man 3 (钢铁侠3)

In the most infamous example of Hollywood-China pandering, the Chinese theatrical version of Iron Man 3 received four extra minutes of footage. They are mostly superfluous and unnecessary to the plot, and some of the scenes even include product placement for Guliduo, a brand of milk drink from China. Chinese actor Wang Xueqi appears as a doctor who briefly appears and near the end of the film performs surgery on Tony Stark. His assistant is played by Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, who has one short conversation with Wang.

2) Looper (环形使者)

In time travel action flick Looper, a mob boss from the future advises Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character to go to China instead of France. “Go to China,” he says, “Trust me. I’m from the future.” It turns out Levitt took his boss’ advice, as the future version of himself, played by Bruce Willis, falls in love with a Chinese woman he meets in Shanghai, played by Beijing’s own Qing Xu. The Chinese version of the film contains a few extra seconds of scenes showcasing Chinese landmarks and added product placement of a couple Chinese brands.

3) World War Z (僵尸世界大战/末日之战)

In the source material for World War Z, a zombie apocalypse epic starring Brad Pitt, the source of the zombie virus originated in China. But to assuage China’s regulators, the reference to China was dropped in the final cut.

4) Pacific Rim (环太平洋)

Pacific Rim is an example of China pandering by Hollywood that actually backfired. A large portion of the movie is set in Hong Kong and its surrounding ocean, which includes the territorially-disputed South China Sea. Despite giving China it’s own giant fighting robot to protect the world, an officer from the People’s Liberation Army criticized the film for being American propaganda, pushing American values and global strategies. “The decisive battle against the monsters was deliberately set in South China Sea adjacent to Hong Kong,” Zhang wrote in the PLA Daily. “The intention was to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to maintaining stability in the Asia-Pacific area and saving mankind.”

5) Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (华尔街：金钱永不眠)

Chinese billionaire Zhang Xin makes a cameo in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. In one of the movie’s many business meetings, Shia LeBouf begins spouting off substandard Chinese at Zhang in an effort to get her to invest in his pet project. The 2010 movie was not well reviewed and did not do well at the box office, but it certainly would have done worse had it not made it into Chinese theaters. Most Chinese had probably never heard of the original Wall Street from 1987, so the movie really had no place in their cinemas.

6) 2012 (2012)

In the end-of-the-world epic 2012, China built the ark made to save the wealthiest of humanity from certain destruction. An American official in the movie comments, “This is something only the Chinese could build.”

7) Red Dawn (remake) (赤色黎明2012)

The original Red Dawn was about Americans rebelling against the Soviet Union. In the 2012 remake, the producers decided the Chinese would be the enemy, instead. However, after leaked images from the movie set led to concerns that the film would demonize China, they had a change of heart and swapped out the Chinese villains for North Koreans. MGM spent $1 million to re-shoot the opening sequence, re-edit several scenes, and digitally replace Chinese insignia with Korean ones.

8) Skyfall (007：大破天幕杀机)

If you watched 007: Skyfall in China, you might have found yourself asking the person next to you, “Wait, what just happened?" A significant portion of a scene set in Shanghai depicting a Chinese security guard being shot and killed by a French hitman was cut out entirely. In a conversation between James Bond and a hostess in a Macau casino, subtitles were altered to remove references to her becoming a prostitute at a young age. The film’s villain, Raoul Silva, makes references to being tortured by Chinese authorities. Those were also cut.

9) Karate Kid (功夫梦/空手道少年)

The Karate Kid was actually co-produced in China, so it should have been mostly exempt from the pandering required to be shown in Chinese cinemas. However, co-production has a slew of other rules all its own. In the Chinese version of the film, school hallway and cafeteria fights were shortened or cut out, as they made the Chinese kids out to be the bad guys and American Jaden Smith as the good guy. In the edited version, the Chinese kids do not fight unless provoked. The opponent’s Kung Fu master is also much more sinister in the international version, teaching his students to be violent and use illegal moves, whereas in the Chinese version he is just a good instructor. And another thing: Karate is from Japan, and Kung Fu is from China. So what’s with that title?

10) Transformers: Age of Extinction (变形金刚4：绝迹重生)

The fourth Transformers movie is a shopping catalogue of Chinese products, including Lenovo computers, Chinese-brand Red Bull, C’est Bon water, Shuhua milk, China Construction Bank, Lukfook Jewellery (yes, it’s spelled like that), Jia Nanchun liquor, LeTV, and Panggu hotel chain, among others. And don’t forget about the China-made car, the Trumpchi GS5 SUV. The second half of the film takes place in Hong Kong, featuring a supporting role played by Li Bingbing and cameos by Ray Lui Leung-wai and boxer Zou Shiming. One scene also takes place in Guangzhou, where the Transformers hide from Decepticons in a factory used by humans to make their own Transformers. At one point during Hong Kong’s destruction, a character remarks, “The central government will protect Hong Kong at all costs,” which led to widespread laughter in Hong Kong theaters. The film was so China-heavy it was widely derided as Chinese propaganda.

Warning：The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: pander Transformers Iron Man 3 Hollywood movies China