中國武隆景區起訴派拉蒙影業公司
A Chinese scenic park is suing US film studio Paramount Pictures over a product placement gone wrong, in the latest controversy to bedevil Hollywood’s love affair with China.
中國武隆景區正就產品植入廣告中遺漏地標事件，起訴美國派拉蒙影業公司(Paramount Pictures)。這場最新的爭議再一次讓好萊塢與中國的戀情告急。The grottoed landscape of southern China’s Wulong nature reserve caught the eye of Michael Bay, director of the fourth instalment of the Transformers franchise. He picked the site for a two-minute sequence during which its plunging chasms and natural flying buttresses are digitally incinerated in a fight between a giant alien robot and a mechanical, fire-breathing dinosaur.
中國武隆景區的岩溶地貌吸引了《變形金剛4：絕跡重生》(Transformers: Age of Extinction)導演邁克爾•貝(Michael Bay)的目光。他選擇通過數字技術，將武隆景區植入擎天柱馴服機械噴火恐龍那場戲中，以兩分鐘的時間展示武隆景區迷人的地貌和天坑。But yesterday it emerged that the Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism Association, which administers the area, is suing Paramount, which produced Transformers: Age of Extinction , alleging that the sequence might be confusing to the audience due to the absence of the Wulong nature preserve’s logo.
但昨日爆出，武隆景區管理方——重慶市武隆喀斯特旅遊集團(Chongqing Wulong Karst Tourism Association)，正起訴電影《變形金剛4：絕跡重生》的製片方派拉蒙，聲稱廣告植入缺少“中國武隆”地標，可能讓觀衆產生迷惑。
The organisation said the omission violates an agreement with Paramount, though the studio’s Chinese partners said the nature park did not deliver the required payment on time, resulting in a rushed production schedule.
武隆方面表示，缺少地標違反了它與派拉蒙的協議，不過派拉蒙的中方合作伙伴表示，武隆方面未能及時付款，導致電影製作時間緊張。In its haste, the US production team mistook a sign reading “Green Dragon Bridge” for a rock engraved with the words “Wulong China”.
在高強度的工作狀態下，美方製作團隊誤將“青龍橋”地標當成了刻有“中國武隆”字樣的石頭地標。The tourism agency released a number of emails between it and Beijing-based 1905 Internet Technology Company, Paramount’s partner, which showed that the studio had agreed to “a prominent display” of the Wulong sign. Wulong said it paid Rmb6m ($967,000) for the product placement, and lost Rmb4m for the five-day shutdown of the park in 2013.
武隆方面公佈了它與派拉蒙的合作方北京一九零五網絡科技公司(1905 Internet Technology Company)的多封往來郵件，郵件顯示派拉蒙曾同意“醒目地呈現”中國武隆字樣。武隆方面表示，它支付了600萬元人民幣（合96.7萬美元）的廣告植入費用，在2013年還因攝製電影關閉景區5天，損失400萬元人民幣。The dispute is the second that Paramount has faced over the film. Two weeks ago it faced a lawsuit from Pangu Plaza, a hotel in Beijing, alleging that a product placement deal for which it had paid had not been honoured. Among other things, it said it had been supposed to feature for at least 20 seconds in the film and host a display of Transformer robots at the hotel.
這場糾紛是派拉蒙就《變4》遇到的第二場。兩週前，派拉蒙剛剛遭到了北京盤古大觀(Pangu Plaza)的起訴，盤古大觀稱自己支付了廣告植入費用，但派拉蒙未履行廣告植入協議。協議規定，片中植入的盤古酒店時長不少於20秒，並在該酒店陳列《變形金剛》中的機器人。Paramount rushed over a yellow model of Bumblebee, one of the Transformers, to the hotel and smoothed things over.
派拉蒙後緊急將一個大黃蜂機器人送至酒店，平息了事態。The controversy has not dented the film’s success in the country: as of last Sunday, it had earned more in China than in the US, at $213m and $175m respectively, according to tracking website Box Office Mojo.
上述爭議並未影響該片在中國的票房。根據票房數據網站Box Office Mojo，截至上週日，《變4》在中國的票房已超過該片在美國的票房，分別爲2.13億美元和1.75億美元。
