Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

‘Shang-Chi’ Star Simu Liu Fires Back at Disney CEO Over “Experiment” Comment

"We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year," the Marvel star says.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

During Disney's earnings call last week Chapek (aka Eisner 2.0) said that releasing Shang-Chi on a 45 day window was an experiment, just like EVERY movie release during the pandemic; be it direct to streaming or a $30 surcharge.

But Shang-Chi himself decided to twist the new (shit) Disney CEO's comments and try to make it sound like he was saying an Asian-led movie was an experiment just for performance outrage and drama online. Anyone with half a brain or reading comprehension could see what Chapek meant by saying it was an experiment, but that nuance is lost on the Twitter rage mob that is getting all riled up with an out-of-context statement about it by the film's star.

 

[RoboFu]

Asian led movies are the underdog?? Don’t tell Jackie chan…

edit: Just wanted to add for those that do not really know and just think of the movie industry as Hollywood ... Jackie Chan is one of the most successful / well known actors world wide. He is still in the top 5 highest paid actors per year.

 

[Atrus]

Maybe Scar Jo isn’t the only actor getting screwed by Disney+.

 

[poppabk]

An Asian led martial arts movie I never thought I would live to see the day.

 

[oagboghi2]

There is no hype for this movie

 

[Heart_Attack]

Dude should be thankful he got a role for a AAA marvel movie, and instead hes interested in feeding the twitter mob by miscontruing the words of Chapek with bad faith.

 

[ManaByte]

Dude should be thankful he got a role for a AAA marvel movie, and instead hes interested in feeding the twitter mob by miscontruing the words of Chapek with bad faith.

He's one A>E Tweet away from being Marvel's Ray Fisher.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There is no hype for this movie

There hasn't been any hype for Marvel after Avengers Infinity War/Endgame. They killed off good major characters and are trying to elevate little-known obscure ones in their place. Disney's issue has always been they are legendarily cheap as fuck and don't want to pay the Marvel actors what they are worth, so those actors just walk away and they are faced with an audience that would be pissed if new people just showed up to take those roles but also don't care about obscure C-tier Marvel characters.

Bringing back the (dead) Loki for a Disney+ series and the (dead) Black Widow for a oneshot movie is just the least of their problems now. No one gives a fuck about whoever's left except Spider-Man, and they still don't have a plan for integrating the X-Men nor are they willing to pay a real ensemble cast of good actors to play all of them.

 

[SJRB]

 

[Amiga]

this is an American movie, if they really were celebrating Chinese culture it would be filmed in Mandarin.

 

[ManaByte]

Disney's issue has always been they are legendarily cheap as fuck and don't want to pay the Marvel actors what they are worth

Scarlett got $20M for Black Widow. It's rare for ANY actor to get more than $20M for a movie.

 

[poppabk]

this is an American movie, if they really were celebrating Chinese culture it would be filmed in Mandarin.

While it's definitely not the majority of the motivator for pushing for more diversity, some of it is definitely motivated by self interest. Like when you see complaints about black English actors or Korean/japanese/Chinese actors.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

this is an American movie, if they really were celebrating Chinese culture it would be filmed in Mandarin.

They don't know anything nor do they care about Chinese culture if that live-action Mulan was anything to go by

 

[mansoor1980]

who?

 

[It's all in the wrist]

Marvel made this movie knowing full well it wouldn't be a blockbuster. Nobody even knows who this guy is (the super hero or the actor lol).

I dunno. I hope it's good! I enjoyed Black Widow.

 

[Azurro]

Who is this guy? He looks like a very generic Chinese dude. He's no Jackie Chan for sure, guess that's why he invokes the woke mob to support his movie and it will tank. Same old story but the Hollywood people don't get that their activism doesn't bring in money.

 

[Kilau]

Maybe Scar Jo isn’t the only actor getting screwed by Disney+.

And she once played an Asian character, coincidence?!

 

[SidViscous]

Isn't he just being humble? He was tweeting the other day about going from being a nobody to a hero etc, isn't his message about people like him being able to achieve their goals? I don't think it's intended to be political

 

[Ionian]

The article is talking about the release dates/formats and that being the experiment isn't it?

 

[sol_bad]

The more I hear about Simu Liu on Twitter and social media the more full of himself he comes across as, I wish he would cool it a bit. I think he is totally misinterpreting what Chapek said. At this point in time with COVID going on, it is "experimental", what movie will provide more money? Black Widow or Shang Chi? They aren't on equal footing though because Shang Chi is an unknown character like GOTG, Doctor Strange and Ant-Man, those movies all made under 800 million. If Shang Chi can manage to make over 500 million at the box office it's a success, but it depends on the Chinese box office as well.

Apparently China is back in lock down again?

As China’s cinemas stay closed, will there ever be a rainbow for Marvel’s Black Widow?

A string of franchise films based on comic books may never get cinematic releases in China, leaving diehard fans devastated.

www.scmp.com

I'm not really sure why this Fu Manchu rumour is going around China though. In the comics, Fu Manchu is the father of Shang Chi (comic is from the 1970's) but in the movie they have changed his father to the Mandarin.

 

[nush]

Apparently China is back in lock down again?

Not countrywide, just some places that have reported cases.

 

[nush]

who?

 

[ManaByte]

The article is talking about the release dates/formats and that being the experiment isn't it?

Yes.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Is this almost out? I had no idea

 

[nush]

There's an actor that's seeing his backend and chance of a sequel vanish, can't be that though umm racism.

 

[tsumake]

I remember reading that the Harry Potter movies were known as “quick burn” movies, meaning they make the majority of their box office in the first two weeks. Even pre-covid, it was rare to see movies stay in the theater for a couple of months, so 45 days isn’t surprising. In fact, it sounds reasonable given the current climate.

 

[ManaByte]

I remember reading that the Harry Potter movies were known as “quick burn” movies, meaning they make the majority of their box office in the first two weeks. Even pre-covid, it was rare to see movies stay in the theater for a couple of months, so 45 days isn’t surprising. In fact, it sounds reasonable given the current climate.

All movies make most of the money (for the studio) in the first few weeks. After that the studio makes less and the theaters make more.

 

[Konnor]

This pathetic shit is part of the marketing strategy and Chapek probably greenlit it.

They're desperate.

 

[ManaByte]

This pathetic shit is part of the marketing strategy and Chapek probably greenlit it.

They're desperate.

Chapek isn't that smart.

 

[TGO]

Can't wait to see the first worldwide Asian blockbuster!
It'll get Oscars mark my words
Shame films like this didn't get the attention they deserved just because it was Asian and didn't have white people and English language

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

Simu is being cringy as fuck here. Pretty obvious what Chapek was talking about on the Investor's Call.

That said, Chapek is proving to be a very incapable and incompetent CEO. The Board made a mistake choosing him over Kevin Mayer. Chapek's contract expires at the end of Feb 2023 and we'll see if they'll renew it, get another CEO, or get rid of Chapek before then. I would favor looking outside of the firm to replace Chapek, but if they want to stay in house then I'd go with Christine McCarthy at this point.

 

[SentientStone]

I’m going to give this film a try in theatres just cause of Tony Leung. The trailers haven’t gotten me hyped thus far, nor am I a fan of that awkwafina girl (however you spell her name).

Personally I would have preferred less hip hop music and less comedic not very good looking Asian chick side-kick,.

 

[Konnor]

Can't wait to see the first worldwide Asian blockbuster!
It'll get Oscars mark my words
Shame films like this didn't get the attention they deserved just because it was Asian and didn't have white people and English language

'member when Chinese movies were actually artistic and had their own style instead of being ugly melodramatic Hollywood knockoffs? I 'member

 

[Neolombax]

First it was Kim's Convenience, now this. Starting to feel like this guy is the issue. He needs to learn to shut up sometimes. The movie isnt even out yet, calm down.

 

[GeorgioCostanzaX]

Simu is being cringy as fuck here. Pretty obvious what Chapek was talking about on the Investor's Call.

That said, Chapek is proving to be a very incapable and incompetent CEO. The Board made a mistake choosing him over Kevin Mayer. Chapek's contract expires at the end of Feb 2023 and we'll see if they'll renew it, get another CEO, or get rid of Chapek before then. I would favor looking outside of the firm to replace Chapek, but if they want to stay in house then I'd go with Christine McCarthy at this point.

Chapek got it due to his parks creds and then that’s been operating at a huge loss due to COVID. Kind of can’t be an easy job with Iger still there armchair quarter backing.

 

[GeekyDad]

...Anyone with half a brain or reading comprehension could see what Chapek meant by saying it was an experiment...

In a country that elected and still supports Donald Trump? Uh huh...

 

[CAB_Life]

China is the underdog? That's the strawman he decided to go with? This man is another race-baiting gifter about as credible and honest as Trevor Noah.

Eventually this will collapse in on itself. We're almost at peak Clown World, so nearly there.

 

[strange headache]

You are not a f*cking hero for starring in a Hollywood movie, how deluded are these people?

Twitter is a mistake. Before that you could at least appreciate an actor's public persona even if it was fake.
Nowadays their stupidity is on full display and it really makes you not want to see their movies anymore.

 

[UnNamed]

This guy is fucking stupid.

A movie which cost 100M $ plus another 100M for advertising, released as a prime product instead of a mixed release (BW) or even worse (Disney movies) with all the risks, with a cast of Asians nobody know because nobody cares of Asians...


...and he still have the nerve to complain.

 

[Labolas]

Ugh... Here we go.

 

[Hulk_Smash]

There hasn't been any hype for Marvel after Avengers Infinity War/Endgame. They killed off good major characters and are trying to elevate little-known obscure ones in their place. Disney's issue has always been they are legendarily cheap as fuck and don't want to pay the Marvel actors what they are worth, so those actors just walk away and they are faced with an audience that would be pissed if new people just showed up to take those roles but also don't care about obscure C-tier Marvel characters.

Bringing back the (dead) Loki for a Disney+ series and the (dead) Black Widow for a oneshot movie is just the least of their problems now. No one gives a fuck about whoever's left except Spider-Man, and they still don't have a plan for integrating the X-Men nor are they willing to pay a real ensemble cast of good actors to play all of them.

Plus there’s always good ole fashion burnout. 17 movies not counting the dozens of other super hero movies that have come out in the last 20 years. All the major characters have been done. They’re not just scraping the bottom of the barrel, they’re turning the barrel over to see what they can pick up off the floor.

 

[dr_octagon]

I look forward to the sequel, The Legend of Why My Agent No Longer Rings

 

[Jaysen]

Chapek quit it.

 

[Soodanim]

The language of the tweet is ambiguous, so without having seen anything he’s said before it seems like he means the cast/crew of the movie. The photos are largely of Asian people because the movie is mostly Asian people, but there’s also a white guy in there too.

Am I missing something that makes him definitely talking about Asians? He could just be proudly talking about the movie and trying to hype it. At least he’ll still have a job if that’s the case.

 

[sol_bad]

I'm

Plus there’s always good ole fashion burnout. 17 movies not counting the dozens of other super hero movies that have come out in the last 20 years. All the major characters have been done. They’re not just scraping the bottom of the barrel, they’re turning the barrel over to see what they can pick up off the floor.

They were already scraping the bottom of the barrel in 2007 when they worked on Iron Man.no one knew or cared about him back then. They cared about RDJ. And look how loved Tony Stark turned out to be.

 

[Arrowson]

Tickets on sale now. Picked them up for opening night and excited to see it.

 

[HellforLeather]

There is no hype for this movie

To be fair, the movie looks like shit, but I'm not Chinese so I'm not the real intended audience.

 

[AJUMP23]

Crouching Tiger says stay hidden Dragons.

 

[Bruno_Arrais85]

couldn't care less about this movie

 

[Xenon]

10000 years from now after they great blackout and technical resurgence some neo woke researcher will find proof via a corrupt version of this story that a Company know as Disney performed inhumane medical experiments on asians.