Paramount Ordered to Pay Fine in ‘Transformers 4’ Contract Dispute

According to a Chinese court, studio failed to include the logo of a resort that sponsored the film

Transformers: Age of Extinction

A Chinese court has ordered Paramount Pictures to pay about $295,000, or 2 million yuan, to a tourist resort over a breach of contract involving product placement in “Transformers: Age of Extinction.”

According to the South China Morning Post, the court found that Paramount and Chinese partner 1905 failed to include the logo of the resort in the final cut of the film, which had been agreed upon in 2013.

The lawsuit was filed by the Wulong Karst National Geological Park’s management company, Wulong Karst Tourism, in 2014. The group claimed that it had promised to pay sponsorship of 6 million yuan to Paramount and would allow the crew to shoot in the park in exchange for promotion of the park’s name in the film.

In April, the defendants admitted that they hadn’t used the logo but tried to compensate by letting director Michael Bay make an ad for the resort and leaving props used in the film as tourist attractions for the park.

However, the court ruled Paramount had broken the agreement.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” had a budget of $210 million and earned $1.1 billion worldwide. Of that, $320 million was earned in China when it opened in June of 2014.

Paramount declined TheWrap’s request for comment.

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