Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has doubled down on threats to make Hollywood studios decide between either U.S. federal funding and the Chinese box office via a new act reports Variety.
U.S. governmental concern over Chinese influence in the film industry has been increasing in recent years and late last month, Cruz issued a version of the bill “Stopping Censorship, Restoring Integrity and Protecting Talkies Act” which prohibits studios from using Department of Defense funds for film production if they alter content to suit Chinese censors. Last week though he expanded the bill’s scope to include funding from the whole of the U.S. government.
All non-Chinese films must receive approval from China’s censors before they can be released in the Middle Kingdom’s cinemas – a process that usually leads to some infamous edits. One such one was the upcoming “Top Gun: Maverick” which saw the flags of Taiwan and Japan digitally removed from the back of Tom Cruise’s flight jacket on early poster art in order to appease Beijing.
Cruz cited the incident specifically in the senate, saying: “What message does it send that Maverick, an American icon, is apparently afraid of the Chinese Communists?”.
The other complication of the bill ties to Chinese regulations requiring that there is only one version of a finished Chinese film if it is to be a co-production. This means no releasing of an unedited longer cut overseas, a film will have to be the same globally as those censored for Chinese audiences, and those restrictions could also swiftly take U.S. government support off the table for many co-productions.
One analyst tells the trade: “If they get wind of a studio performing a redaction or changing something obvious, then [the government] gets the chance to hold their feet to the fire.” However it is thought the proposal will be difficult to enforce as it targets film distribution rather than development where Chinese creative influence mostly takes place – actions behind closed doors which are impossible to regulate.
China as well is pushing to abolish its film import quotas – an option that could achieve many of the same aims as Cruz’s legislation without harming U.S. companies.
