I wonder to what extent Disney theme park visits are way more important to the bottom line than theatrical releases. Disney Shanghai is a massive draw, as well as Chinese visits to Anaheim and Orlando. They may not be watching American films like they once did, but any hint of even fictional Chinese villainy would get massively amplified by social media and sour park attendance.
I miss movie theaters for regular date nights. But you can’t charge me $60 for two tickets+ concessions when I have to shell out another $200 for dinner and $75 for a sitter. The movies have to be well worth it. This one seems like a “wait for Disney plus stream”. Saving my date night for Thunderbolts.
I have unfortunately seen the trailer for that film several times, and I’m interested to read about it from a POV of knowing comics or the other films. bc um as a person who doesn’t know either , every time I’ve seen it I’ve thought ‘why on earth would anyone watch this drek’
Disney's intent with Shang-Chi was to break into the Chinese media market. Instead, the movie was blocked for release there. Their response has been to continue not mentioning China in any way, shape or form.
Someone from The Bulwark (Sonny? Tim?) did a really good pod a couple years ago with a Disney exec to discuss that attempt and the blowback from it. I can't find it with a quick google but maybe the admin could post a link.
What business would develop content that makes a potential market into the bad guy?
Re: a lesser market, note that the red eyed Russians don’t figure as the evildoers much lately. Must gall Vladimir that he’s not viewed bigly as the baddie anymore despite how hard he’s worked to earn it against Ukraine
Well this is at least partly my point: the Chinese market functionally doesn’t exist anymore in a real way. So why not treat it like Hollywood treated Russia/Eastern Europe in the late-90s/00s?
> And that’s it! Those are the only countries in conflict with the United States in this Asian body of water. No other East Asian naval powers greedy for resources have any say in the matter.
If you’ll indulge me an extremely obscure comparison… there’s a 2001 Japanese “visual novel” (basically a choose-your-own-adventure game with graphics, music, and sometimes porn) called “Muv-Luv Unlimited” set 30 years into an ongoing invasion by aliens called the “BETA”. The backstory is that the BETA landed in Kashgar, India in 1973. The Soviets and the Chinese rushed to engage them, waving off help from the outside world because they wanted the BETA’s extraterrestrial secrets to themselves. But the BETA quickly evolved the ability to shoot down planes with their lasers, rendering air superiority moot, and allowing them overwhelm the Soviets and Chinese and flood across Asia and Europe over the next three decades.
OK, there’s more than a little Japanese nationalism at work in this franchise, as the writers tick off all the countries they don’t like (China, Russia, eventually the US), and praise erstwhile allies (a Finnish soldier loves her new Japanese comrades because Japan beat Russia in 1905, and the Finns hate Russia). But it’s nice to see a creator not afraid to tweak Chinese sensibilities by portraying them as venal and ineffective, just like most real-life governments are. And to top it off, there’s a pretty solid Muv-Luv fandom in China anyways (possibly helped by one of the later games including a hot Chinese girl as a potential love interest).
I told my wife that XXX turns into a red XXX because he really misses a loved one. It's too bad that this movie wasn't willing to blacker and to dig into the race issue. I'll note for Sonny that all this [waves hand] is partly a response to a black guy being president. Let Sam Wilson have some Wesley Snipes swagger/pride. Oh well.
CA: BNW I found mostly just dumb fun. Not super great or super bad, just dumb fun that lets you turn your brain off for a couple of hours. Now that said, I cannot wait to see more of Giancarlo Esposito hamming it up like he did here
I wonder to what extent Disney theme park visits are way more important to the bottom line than theatrical releases. Disney Shanghai is a massive draw, as well as Chinese visits to Anaheim and Orlando. They may not be watching American films like they once did, but any hint of even fictional Chinese villainy would get massively amplified by social media and sour park attendance.
I miss movie theaters for regular date nights. But you can’t charge me $60 for two tickets+ concessions when I have to shell out another $200 for dinner and $75 for a sitter. The movies have to be well worth it. This one seems like a “wait for Disney plus stream”. Saving my date night for Thunderbolts.
I haven't seen any of these movies.
I don't feel a need to see any of them.
But I greatly enjoy reading Sonny Bunch.
Go figure
I have unfortunately seen the trailer for that film several times, and I’m interested to read about it from a POV of knowing comics or the other films. bc um as a person who doesn’t know either , every time I’ve seen it I’ve thought ‘why on earth would anyone watch this drek’
"China functionally does not exist in the MCU." What about Shang-Chi?
Disney's intent with Shang-Chi was to break into the Chinese media market. Instead, the movie was blocked for release there. Their response has been to continue not mentioning China in any way, shape or form.
Someone from The Bulwark (Sonny? Tim?) did a really good pod a couple years ago with a Disney exec to discuss that attempt and the blowback from it. I can't find it with a quick google but maybe the admin could post a link.
Damn, I hope not. Shang-Chi was one of the few good recent Marvel movies.
Fantastic. Now you need a sassy woman and a young sexy dude! With tattoos and a tight tee short. No offense.
What business would develop content that makes a potential market into the bad guy?
Re: a lesser market, note that the red eyed Russians don’t figure as the evildoers much lately. Must gall Vladimir that he’s not viewed bigly as the baddie anymore despite how hard he’s worked to earn it against Ukraine
Well this is at least partly my point: the Chinese market functionally doesn’t exist anymore in a real way. So why not treat it like Hollywood treated Russia/Eastern Europe in the late-90s/00s?
> And that’s it! Those are the only countries in conflict with the United States in this Asian body of water. No other East Asian naval powers greedy for resources have any say in the matter.
If you’ll indulge me an extremely obscure comparison… there’s a 2001 Japanese “visual novel” (basically a choose-your-own-adventure game with graphics, music, and sometimes porn) called “Muv-Luv Unlimited” set 30 years into an ongoing invasion by aliens called the “BETA”. The backstory is that the BETA landed in Kashgar, India in 1973. The Soviets and the Chinese rushed to engage them, waving off help from the outside world because they wanted the BETA’s extraterrestrial secrets to themselves. But the BETA quickly evolved the ability to shoot down planes with their lasers, rendering air superiority moot, and allowing them overwhelm the Soviets and Chinese and flood across Asia and Europe over the next three decades.
OK, there’s more than a little Japanese nationalism at work in this franchise, as the writers tick off all the countries they don’t like (China, Russia, eventually the US), and praise erstwhile allies (a Finnish soldier loves her new Japanese comrades because Japan beat Russia in 1905, and the Finns hate Russia). But it’s nice to see a creator not afraid to tweak Chinese sensibilities by portraying them as venal and ineffective, just like most real-life governments are. And to top it off, there’s a pretty solid Muv-Luv fandom in China anyways (possibly helped by one of the later games including a hot Chinese girl as a potential love interest).
I told my wife that XXX turns into a red XXX because he really misses a loved one. It's too bad that this movie wasn't willing to blacker and to dig into the race issue. I'll note for Sonny that all this [waves hand] is partly a response to a black guy being president. Let Sam Wilson have some Wesley Snipes swagger/pride. Oh well.
Do adults really watch this junk?????
Yes.
I enjoyed this. Thank you!
CA: BNW I found mostly just dumb fun. Not super great or super bad, just dumb fun that lets you turn your brain off for a couple of hours. Now that said, I cannot wait to see more of Giancarlo Esposito hamming it up like he did here
Giancarlo Esposito is a real It Girl for my age demographic. It's games, films, shows. He's everywhere and he's great.
Whatever he is in is made 20% better by default by his presence