redxavier wrote:Re: it opening in China.
I'd put money down that someone deliberately changed the cause of the Kessler effect in the movie as a strike on a satellite by a Chinese missile (as happened in real life) to a Russian missile, just so that the movie was more consumable in that massive market.
(And also that their Tiangong station is actually up there and completed, though the film does takes place in a near future when the shuttles are still active beyond STS-135.)
I think the use of Tiangong was just how the story was told -- not really done "for" Chinese audiences. Storytelling-wise, they needed a 3rd place to go, and Tiangong is the only option on the horizon to fit the universe being built (Near Future, STS-157).
I could see using the Russians rather than the Chinese for the missile strike as a way to not offend Chinese moviegoers, but also to avoid the label "political" being tied to the film in any way. Cuaron doesn't shy away from making statements with his films, but it's generally done more so via "theme" rather than singling out a particular country.
On that note...
Gravity opened to a record setting first 6 days in China -- grossing ~$35.5 million. It's expected to continue to do well, and with Japan getting it soon, it's estimated that it could clear a solid $400 mil on the foreign market. This means Gravity will almost certainly break the $650 million barrier worldwide...with a very slight, dark-horse chance at $700 million.
It was already going to land several Technical Achievement awards, but it's almost out-of-nowhere commercial success makes me think Gravity and 12 Years a Slave are going to dominate award season across the board this year.
That would make me happy.
