Pentagon Just Enacted The “Tom Cruise Rule”

On Wednesday the Pentagon updated its new rules when working with movie producers.

In the new updated rules from the Department of Defense it states they will “prohibit any assistance to directors who plan to comply or will likely comply with censorship demands from the Chinese government.”

The move by the Pentagon comes after the movie Top Gun: Maverick which stars Tom Cruise removed the flags of Taiwan and Japan from Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s  jacket.

The new “Tom Cruise Rule ” comes after Sen. Ted Cruz inserted the new rule into the fiscal 2023 NDAA.

Pentagon to filmmakers: We won't help you if you kowtow To China https://t.co/XcwK2EZubg

— General Spalding (@robert_spalding) July 1, 2023

https://twitter.com/jgreco/status/1675120966874144770

Here’s what Politico reported:

If you’re a filmmaker and you want the Pentagon’s help, from now on you’ll have to guarantee that you won’t let China censor your movie first.

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On Wednesday, the Defense Department updated its rules for working with movie studios to prohibit any assistance to directors who plan to comply or will likely comply with censorship demands from the Chinese government in order to distribute their movie there.

The issue came to a head with last year’s release of “Top Gun: Maverick.” In trailers for the film, viewers noticed that the studio removed the flags of Taiwan and Japan from Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell’s flight jacket in an apparent attempt to appease Chinese investor Tencent. But after criticism in the U.S. — and after Tencent reportedly dropped its investment in the film –– the flags were restored in the final version.

The Pentagon updated its rules for working with filmmakers after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) inserted language into the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill. Cruz has pushed back on Beijing’s censorship of films.

“What does it say to the world when Maverick is scared of the Chinese communists?” he said in a floor speech at the time.

According to a new Defense Department document obtained by POLITICO, filmmakers who want the U.S. military to help with their projects must now pledge that they won’t let Beijing alter those films.

Long overdue. @DeptofDefense “updated its rules for working with movie studios to prohibit any assistance to directors who plan to comply or will likely comply with censorship demands from the Chinese government in order to distribute their movie there.”
https://t.co/zcOqunZRkn

— Julian Ku 古舉倫 (@julianku) July 1, 2023

Here’s what Fox News reported:

In a document obtained by Politico, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has updated its guidelines for advising and working with Hollywood films, declaring it will not work with films that have been altered due to Chinese censorship demands.

The update follows Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, efforts to fight back against Chinese government requests for censorship of American movies distributed to Chinese audiences.

The issue became prominent several early trailers for last year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” had the Taiwan and Japan flags removed from the iconic flight jacket worn Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, the classic character made played by Tom Cruise.

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