10 Movies Totally Changed For Overseas Audiences

2. Red Dawn Had A North Korean Villain In China

Bohemian Rhapsody Rami Malek
FilmDistict

Many of the edits made to Hollywood films to suit cultural differences can be so minor they are difficult to spot. However, the editing job required on 2012's Red Dawn remake was so intensive the studio ended up releasing it worldwide.

As the original was set during the height of the Cold War, it's hardly surprising that the main antagonists were Soviet. However, for the remake, MGM decided to change their nationality to Chinese.

Unsurprisingly, when the film's script was leaked online, Chinese audiences were extremely unhappy with this change and the film drew heavy criticism from the Chinese media.

The backlash led to the studio spending just short of $1 million to go back and re-edit the film to make the antagonist's nationality North Korean instead. This involved changing the opening scene to reflect a new fictional backdrop and painstakingly changing all Chinese symbols and dialogue to North Korean.

Despite these changes, the studio still managed to alienate audiences as, after failing to replace any of the Chinese actors, they were accused of perpetuating the idea that "all Asian people look alike".

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Student, part-time freelance writer, holder of many questionable opinions and impassioned hater of Lord Of The Rings (disagree? Find me on Twitter, @JoshSandy)