One poor joke in the upcoming film adaptation of the “Monster Hunter” video game may not only end up costing the film millions, but is having an impact on the very brand that spawned it.
It all began on Friday in China where an online backlash quickly brewed in relation to the Milla Jovovich-led film and saw the movie pulled from the country’s cinemas mere hours after opening in what was to be one of the market’s biggest plays for the season.
The backlash centered around a short ten second exchange in the film which, on its own, was already a bad and insensitive joke playing on the words ‘knees’ and ‘Chinese’. However a problematic and inaccurate translation in the film’s subtitles, combined with a seeming lack of knowledge on the filmmaker’s part about an infamous racist playground rhyme, apparently made the exchange far worse in the eyes of local audiences who considered it deeply insulting and a directed attack and so have taken their widespread anger online.
The movie was quickly pulled from all screens in the country. Tencent, which is handling local distribution and is an equity partner in the film, is reportedly working with the Chinese government and agencies involved to remedy the situation – namely by removing the offending scene.
However it is unclear if the movie would then be re-released into local cinemas and even if it were, the mess over this may have sunk any box-office chances. Those involved have reportedly been surprised, especially as this is a Chinese co-production and one that went through a vetting process by censors already.
With the U.S. box-office effectively in tatters well into 2021, China is about the only country for the next few months where a film could potentially get any serious financial play.
Capcom, creator of the original video game series, issued a statement on social media platform Weibo and effectively distanced themselves from the movie saying it did not produce the feature. Yet the most recent game in the series, the major hit “Monster Hunter: World,” boasts a tie-in with the film with Milla Jovovich’s character appearing as a playable character voiced by the actress.
Capcom also say they have passed on to online feedback to the relevant companies, but the statement hasn’t stopped the game from being hit with a spike of negative reviews on Steam in the past 48 hours – the game effectively being reviewed bombed with many of the most recent reviews directly referencing the film’s joke.
Sony has worldwide rights to the movie outside of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, China and Japan and has a December 25th North American release still planned.
