A Hollywood movie that hasn’t even been released yet is already sparking some controversy in Asia. HPR’s Bill Dorman explains in today’s Asia Minute.
“Arrival” is a science fiction movie about alien spacecraft landing at various spots around the earth. Promotional posters show those spacecraft lingering above different cities…including Hong Kong. And that’s where the trouble starts. One of the posters featured the Hong Kong skyline spread out over Victoria Harbor—with a little something extra: a skyscraper that’s actually located in Shanghai. The Oriental Pearl Tower is distinctive—for more than twenty years it’s been a landmark for the commercial center of mainland China.
Media in Hong Kong (social and otherwise) erupted with indignation…. lashing out under the hashtag “Hong Kong is Not China.” The influence of the Beijing government is a sensitive topic in Hong Kong.
The Hollywood reporter said “as political slip-ups go, accidentally wading into the issue of Hong Kong independence is about as bad as it gets.” The Paramount movie studio changed the poster… blaming a third party vendor. But instead of just removing the Oriental Pearl Tower, the new poster removes the entire Hong Kong skyline—replacing it with Shanghai. As for the movie, it debuts next week at the Venice Film Festival….with a wider theatrical release in November. No word on when it may come to Hong Kong.