The Chinese government propaganda newspaper Global Times dramatically predicted a “total collapse of the box office” for Hollywood in the near future as a result of its movies’ “repetitive” plots and “dated” American values.
Disney shares tumbled 4.1 percent Wednesday with news that growth of its streaming services Disney+ slowed. The fall also comes after years of being cozy with communist China, efforts to put sexually-laced content in its TV productions, and what critics call politically correct overhauls to it iconic park attractions.
In a possible massive blow to Disney and Marvel Studio’s coffers, Chinese officials are mulling the idea of banning from their theaters the new all-Asian superhero film, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Officials claim to be incensed because the story has its origins based on the 100-year-old Fu Manchu character.
James Cameron’s 2009 blockbuster ‘Avatar’ is breaking records as it dwarfs Disney’s controversial ‘Mulan’ in China.
Disney’s decision to film Mulan in a region of China with Uyghur concentration camps continues to be a public relations disaster for Hollywood’s biggest studio. A new poll about the Walt Disney Co. has found that the vast majority of Americans oppose the studio’s choice of locations for the live-action movie.
NEW YORK (AP) — “No New ‘Movies’ Till Influenza Ends” blared a New York Times headline on Oct. 10, 1918, while the deadly second wave of the Spanish Flu was unfolding. A century later, during another pandemic, movies — quotes no longer necessary — are again facing a critical juncture. But it’s not because new films haven’t been coming out. By streaming service, video-on-demand, virtual theater or actual theater, a steady diet of films have been released under COVID-19 every week. The Times has reviewed more than 460 new movies since mid-March.
Disney has defended its decision to thank Chinese communist entities responsible for egregious human rights abuses in Xinjiang in the credits for their latest live-action film Mulan, arguing that it is “standard practice across the film industry worldwide.”
Local police in the Chinese city of Turpan, Xinjiang, confirmed to Radio Free Asia (RFA) this weekend that at least eight Uyghur concentration camps are operating in the northwestern city. Disney producers thanked Turpan officials in the credits of the recently released film Mulan for help with filming there.
China’s state-run newspaper Global Times excoriated Disney’s live-action remake of 1990s cartoon film Mulan in a weekend review that dismissed it as “self-righteous,” historically inaccurate, and insulting to the patriotism of the Chinese people.
Moviegoing audiences in North America are not rushing back to the theater just yet and “Mulan” is also faltering in its China release as the global box office slowly comes back online in the COVID-19 era.
Walt Disney Company Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy admitted in remarks on Thursday that the decision to film parts of Mulan near concentration camps for Muslims in western China had “generated a lot of publicity.”
The Communist Party of China barred major media coverage of the Disney film “Mulan,” Reuters reported on Thursday, following global outrage in response to producers thanking Chinese officials running concentration camps in its end credits.
Disney’s live-action Mulan drew public support Thursday from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as it dismissed criticism that parts of the film were filmed near Uyghur concentration camps as evidence of the “hooliganism, arrogance, ignorance and rudeness” that underpin U.S. society.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is demanding that the Walt Disney Co. answer for its collaboration with Chinese officials in Xinjiang during the production of Mulan, saying that the studio is “whitewashing genocide” by partnering with the secret police who are involved in Uyghur concentration camps.
Disney has drawn a backlash for its indifference to religious freedom and human rights, cozying up to the Chinese Communist Party and filming parts of its new live action blockbuster Mulan in a city that incarcerates Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
Disney’s live-action Mulan can’t seem to catch a break. Following coronavirus delays and a #BoycottMulan campaign, the movie is now generating blowback for its end credits in which the studio thanks an official Chinese government security bureau linked to Uyghur concentration camps.
Pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, including Joshua Wong, are calling on moviegoers to boycott Disney’s live-action Mulan over actress Liu Yifei’s past comment in which she supported Communist China’s crackdown on demonstrators. They are also calling out the Walt Disney Co. for its repeated deference to China’s Communist dictatorship.
“Mulan” is no longer headed for a major theatrical release. The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it will debut its live-action blockbuster on its subscription streaming service, Disney+, on Sept. 4.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With reported cases of the coronavirus surging, Warner Bros. on Thursday postponed the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” further delaying Hollywood’s summer kickoff.
According to reports, Disney cut a kissing scene from its upcoming Chinese release of ‘Mulan,’ because Chinese censors demanded the change.
The director of Disney’s live-action ‘Mulan’ spoke out against Hollywood’s “horrific” prejudice against female directors.
Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, Li Ka-shing, bought multiple front-page newspaper ads Friday encouraging protesters to “love China” and “love [the] rule of law.”
Why are people surprised, though — surprised that anyone associated with Disney would side with brutal communist enforcers over people waving American flags?
China’s state-run Global Times on Wednesday castigated Western reviewers for criticizing Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of Mulan. According to the Chinese Communist paper, negative reactions to the trailer for Mulan are dishonest and politicized, while Disney should be applauded for retelling a great Chinese “patriotic saga.”