Paramount, Chinese company resolve 'Transformers' dispute

[June 24, 2014]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Movie studio Paramount Pictures and a Chinese company have resolved a dispute over a sponsorship deal that had threatened to disrupt the release of big-budget action movie "Transformers: Age of Extinction," the studio said on Monday.

Beijing Pangushi Investment Co Ltd last week demanded changes to the film because it said Paramount did not meet its obligations to feature its property in the movie. The Beijing firm said it was revoking permission to show its buildings in "Age of Extinction," which is expected to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.

On Monday, a Paramount spokeswoman said the issues had been resolved without any edits to the film and the movie will debut worldwide as scheduled on Friday. Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc.

The Beijing company, in a statement on its website on Monday, said it had been in touch with Paramount and both sides "expressed willingness to suitably resolve the issue of screening the film in China."

The parties reached an understanding after friendly consultations, Beijing Pangushi said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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