In Amy Adam’s upcoming film Arrival, there has already been controversy surrounding the public release of the movie poster. On the Arrival movie poster, there is a distinct alien looking monolith behind the skyline view of Hong Kong, China. Although most residents who live in Hong Kong have noticed a distinct Shanghai landmark, The Oriental Peal Tower, within the obvious backdrop of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor in the poster.
Hong Kong residents are outraged by this callous mistake, since there has been a lot of tension between native Hong Kong residents who have wanted to separate from mainland China for years. The tense history between Hong Kong and China started ever since 1997, when the city was identified previously as a colony and when it’s sovereignty was passed quickly to China. Recently, political groups in Hong Kong have risen in popularity due to their promise to work towards Hong Kong’s independence away from China.
Since the preview of the movie poster, there has been considerable backlash on social media for the mistake. Most film commenters have ranted that the Arrival production made a common western assumption and confused a Shanghai landmark for Hong Kong. Other commenters have also criticized the marketing of the film, since they clearly didn’t do their research when they created the artwork for the film poster. Although Hong Kong commenters have even gone overboard in hashtagging Hong Kong isn’t China and never will be.
Leader of the “Hong Kong Autonomy Movement”, Chin Wan-kan, has replied to the film’s controversy, saying that the film adaptation of the sci-fi novel Arrival has decent talent and could have influenced positivity for Hong Kong. Although due to the film’s poster’s mistake, it has created political controversy and angst.
Arrival is set to premiere in theaters November 11th 2016, which is set to star not only Amy Adams, but also Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker.
