Awkward! Pearl Tower Appears in Movie Poster Version of HK

By Bridget O'Donnell

A newly released poster for the film Arrival, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker, has caused quite the stir online this week for its awkward placement of Shanghai's Pearl Tower on an image of Hong Kong.

The poster depicts Victoria Harbour, with the famous Shanghai landmark planted smack dab in the middle of Hong Kong Island. Meanwhile, the film's slogan asks "Why Are They Here?" Perhaps a more appropriate question would be "Why is the Pearl Tower Here?"

The poster is one of 12 released on the film's official Facebook page earlier this week, each depicting alien spacecraft hovering over cities across the world. The Hong Kong version of the poster drew thousands of angry commenters, many of them using the hashtag "#HongKongisnotChina."

According to the popular blog Coconuts, the poster has since been removed from the page and an apology has been issued.

This isn't the first time the two cities have been mixed up. In 2014, Anthony Bourdain caused a few facepalms when his TV show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations did an episode on Shanghai which featured an accidental shot of Hong Kong. Awkward indeed.

Arrival will debut at the Venice Film Festival next month. The film is an adaptation of Chinese-American author Ted Chiang's novel a Story of Your Life.

The latest version of the poster replaces the Hong Kong Skyline with Shanghai's (h/t Hong Kong Free Press).

[Images via Coconuts]

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