(Image source: Sony Pictures)
Four years ago, reports surfaced that China had demanded Sony Pictures remove all scenes featuring the Statue of Liberty from "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or face a ban from Chinese cinemas. While Sony reportedly considered the request internally, the studio ultimately refused, leading to the film's exclusion from the Chinese market.
Now, four years later, Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman has officially confirmed these reports for the first time during an interview on "The Town" podcast, providing further details on the situation.
Rothman recalled, "It makes me mad, but I have to say, the third film, 'No Way Home,' we only made $1.9 billion. You're going to ask, 'What's wrong with making $1.9 billion? Is it because it didn't break $2 billion?' Yes, because we couldn't release it in China, otherwise it would have easily surpassed that. In my mind, it did break $2 billion; we know how well we could have done in China."
Rothman went on to explain the reason for the film's absence in China: "They initially said it could be released, but there was one small condition: just cut out the Statue of Liberty scenes, which happened to be where the film's entire climax took place. That was their demand." The host then quipped, "But that's basically cutting out the last 20 minutes of the entire movie." Rothman agreed, "Yeah, that's the problem."
(Image source: Sony Pictures)
Rothman continued, "Another reason I didn't agree to cut it was that I really didn't want to go to Congress and explain why I agreed to the Chinese Communist Party's demand to cut out the Statue of Liberty." The host then jokingly asked Rothman if the Statue of Liberty would appear in the fourth "Spider-Man" film. Rothman humorously replied, "Let me think... well, coincidentally, it's not in this one. Purely by chance (laughs)."