Chinese tourism firm sues Paramount Pictures for 180 million yuan for omitting logo from Transformers: Age of Extinction
The US producer of the hit Hollywood film Transformers: Age of Extinction and its Chinese partner have been taken to court by a Chinese tourist resort, which is asking for compensation of 180 million yuan (HK$215 million), mainland media reports.
Wulong Karst Tourism told a Chongqing court on Tuesday that Paramount Pictures and 1905, a Beijing-based technology firm specialising in films, had failed to fulfil their major obligations as part of a product placement agreement signed in 2013, the Chongqing Morning Post reported on Wednesday.
The Chinese company formed by the government of Wulong county – renowned for its stunning eroded limestone landscapes, known as karst – said it had agreed with the film-makers that a logo of the resort would be included in the final film.
It said it had paid 4.8 million yuan in advance to the film-makers so that part of the science-fiction action film would be shot at Wulong Karst National Park.
However, it said the finished film did not include the logo, which meant audiences had no idea that Wulong was one of the places featured in the film.
The court has yet to deliver a verdict after the six-hour hearing.
