Paramount, Chinese company resolve Transformers dispute

Paramount Pictures and the Chinese company, Beijing Pangushi Investment Co. Ltd. have resolved a dispute over a sponsorship deal that had threatened to disrupt the release of big-budget action movie Transformers: Age of Extinction

A figure of Transformer is displayed on top of a pier outside the Hong
Kong Cultural Centre in Hong Kong June 18, 2014.

Paramount Pictures and the Chinese company, Beijing Pangushi Investment Co. Ltd. have resolved a dispute over a sponsorship deal that had threatened to disrupt the release of big-budget action movie Transformers: Age of Extinction. The Chinese investment firm had demanded that Paramount Pictures remove scenes from the upcoming action film because it believes the movie studio did not meet the obligations of a sponsorship deal between the two companies to feature its property in the movie. The Chinese firm, n a statement, had stated that it wished to terminate its contract with Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc, and that any images featuring the company’s building should be deleted from the film or its marketing materials.
The movie, the fourth installment in the blockbuster Transformers series, released worldwide on June 27.
However, the issue has been resolved without any edits to the film and the movie hit the theatres as scheduled. Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc.
The Beijing company, in a statement on its website said it had been in touch with Paramount and that both sides, “expressed willingness to suitably resolve the issue of screening the film in China.”
The parties reached an understanding after friendly consultations, Beijing Pangushi said.

Orlando Harry Potter rides enchants

The signature ride of the new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios in Orlando, a roller coaster with passenger cars that pitch, heave and spin 360 degrees through a 3-D film adventure, was shut during a media preview after minor glitches were spotted. Escape from Gringotts is the main attraction of the new Diagon Alley expansion to the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley that will open to the public on July 8. The ride recreates the London-based wizard shopping district imagined in J.K. Rowling’s book series.
The ride ran into a technical snag and broke down during its red carpet debut. Even then, the actors who attended the preview gasped and grinned as they walked though Diagon Alley, a fully realised four-story shopping district.
The designers collaborated with Rowling to create additional signage and graphics that remained true to the book. The new additions will join the main Harry Potter ride, The Forbidden Journey, which is based in Hogsmeade and is an amalgamation of scenes from the book. Potter fans can purchase a $6.95 set of chattering teeth at Weasleys Wizard Wheezes, Hogwarts school robes for $109.95 at Madam Malkins, or Dumbledore’s robes, the priciest item in the shop, for $700. On the dining side, the Leaky Cauldron restaurant offers traditional British dishes such as a Toad in the Hole (sausage in savory bread pudding), and fisherman’s pie for $14.99.
Comcast Corp’s Universal Studios will also bring the world of Harry Potter to its Hollywood theme park in 2016, as part of plans to drum up attendance with a revamp and five-year expansion plan for its film-themed attractions.

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