Arrival creators apologize for Hong Kong Skyline poster mistake

The makers of the new alien film “Arrival” have apologized for photoshopping a Shanghai landmark into the Hong Kong skyline in a promotional poster.

Paramount released the poster yesterday, but pulled it after some serious political backlash on social media.

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The poster depicted Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, with a cigar-shaped alien ship suspended above the water.

However, it also saw the unwanted addition of the parachuted Oriental Pearl Tower from Shanghai.

The results were disastrous, with thousands of angry commenters attacking the film’s Facebook page and the scathing hashtag #‎HongKongisnotChina emerging.

Some have even called for a boycott of the film, which stars Amy Adams and is scheduled for release in November.

According to the Hong Kong Free Press, one particularly angry netizen wrote: “Let’s boycott this shit. Putting that fucking tower in Victoria Harbour doesn’t mean it represents China, you idiot. #Hongkongisnotchina (sic).”

In an apology tweet, Paramount said:

An error was made on an “Arrival” poster by a third party seller. It has been corrected and we are disappointed that we did not catch the error.

— Arrival of the movie (@arrivalmovie) August 18, 2016

Politically, it was a serious mistake, which stoked long-standing resentment.

Some refused to accept the apology.

“No excuses!” wrote one angry commenter on the film’s Facebook page, where much of the anger was directed.

“You really made a big mistake. Hong Kong is still different from China. This is totally unacceptable to real Hong Kong people.”

Echoing the film’s slogan, “Why are they here?”, another added: “Why are they (Chinese settlers) here?”

Hong Kong was a British colony since the First Opium War which ended in 1842. Its sovereignty was then returned to China in 1997.

But there is still a deep division between Hong Kong and the People’s Republic.

Some have even speculated that the “third party vendor” involved in the poster’s production may have had a political agenda.

However, if the filmmakers were truly unaware of the issues at stake, one commentator has set them straight.

“It was like calling a Northern Irishman a Briton or a Catalan a Spaniard,” they wrote. “It is worse in this case, because we are talking about the Communists just across the border. You cannot imagine the harm the Communists have done to Hong Kong so far.”

Photo credits: Paramount/Facebook