It appears the shooting of Shanghai may have to take place in another city. The Chinese government isn’t happy with the current script and has halted production. We get the scoop this morning from the mystical caves of yahoo:
China has blocked a Hollywood movie reportedly starring John Cusack and Gong Li from being shot in the country because of concerns about the script, a film official said Wednesday. Luan Guozhi, director of international cooperation at China’s Film Bureau, declined to reveal the government’s concerns about the story for “Shanghai,” but said the filmmakers could make changes and reapply. “We suggest they make some changes to the script and resubmit their application,” he said in a phone interview.
Well this certainly sucks. When you name a film after a city; you really need to film the location. No word yet on what part of the script the Chinese government has a problem with, so we have no way of knowing if it will require a quick edit or complete overhaul. Either way this is a huge pain in the ass for all involved with the film and hopefully the issue will be resolved shortly.
I think they should rebuild Shanghai on a sound-stage and make the film as originally intended. Have the sound-stage used for as many films as possible to help pay it off. The next 6 American Pie DVD films can be filmed there, maybe even an Shanghai based remake of Police Academy.
With hope the government will lighten up (not likely), or they will be able to find another location that they can sell as Shanghai. I hope the issue is resolved, because if the film cannot be made in the title city, it will be strange to say the least.
