SHANGHAI
A model of the Transformers character Bumblebee is displayed in front of Qianmen Gate in central Beijing, June 20, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Lee
(Reuters) – A scenic Chinese location where scenes in Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers: Age of Extinction” were filmed, has threatened to sue the film’s producers for failing to display its logo on-screen, the China Daily newspaper reported.
The product placement complaint was made by the Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism Group, which operates the Wulong Scenic Area in southwest China. It marks the second dispute the movie has faced in the world’s second-largest film market where buoyant box office revenues is drawing Hollywood filmmakers.
China Daily quoted Li Chu, a marketing manager for the location, as saying the company was in talks with producer 1905 Internet Technology and Paramount Pictures after they failed to show the area’s logo which confused some audiences about where the scenes were shot. Beijing-based 1905 Internet Technology is the movie channel arm of China Central Television.
“If we fail to compromise on a proposal that could remedy our loss we will resort to legal procedures,” Li said in the newspaper’s report on Monday.
Officials with Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom, were not immediately available to comment.
Other media reports said the scenic area should shoulder some of the blame because it contracted with 1905 and failed to deliver its contract payment on time.
The tourism board plans to hold a press conference in Beijing on Monday to explain its case, a spokesman said.
In June, a Chinese company demanded changes to the film because it said Paramount did not meet its obligations to feature its property in the movie. The dispute has since been resolved between the parties without any edits to the film.
The special effects-laden movie, the fourth in the series of films about form-changing Autobot robots that save the planet, has generated more than $212 million in China alone since it opened a week ago, close to its takings in the United States, illustrating China’s growing importance to Hollywood.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Matt Driskill)