Around 2012, Hollywood producers started thinking about “Chinese elements.” They had already learned what to remove from a movie to avoid angering China, but now they were asking a recurring question each time a new idea was pitched: How can we work China into this?
With Chinese box-office riches in mind, they began stuffing characters, scenes, and products they thought would appeal to Chinese audiences into their films. It made sense, since sizable returns from China were becoming the norm. At Disney, The Avengers made $86 million in China. At Warner Bros., The Hobbit made $50 million. At Fox, an Ice Age sequel made $68 million. At Universal, Battleship made $48 million.
Michael Bay wanted to share in the bounty. As the director of Paramount Pictures’ biggest franchise, Transformers, he was responsible for the only series the studio had that could go head-to-head with the Avengers and Spidermen of the world. Transformers had been the third-highest-grossing movie of 2007, a
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