Sony Pictures head Tom Rothman recently confirmed in a podcast interview why Spider-Man: No Way Home was banned in Chinese cinemas. The China Film Administration had one “small” request that would have completely changed the movie’s climax.
According to The Daily Beast, China asked Sony to “cut out the Statue of Liberty” from the film. For those who have seen No Way Home, the Statue of Liberty is where the entire finale takes place, making it one of the most important locations in the movie. Removing it would have meant rewriting or reshooting a large part of the film.
Rothman declined the demand. He admitted that this decision cost the film a major boost to its box office numbers. Spider-Man: No Way Home, starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, made $1.9 billion globally in 2021, which Rothman says “p—es me off to have to say.” He believes that without the China ban, the movie would have gone “over” the $2 billion mark.
The Statue of Liberty cut would have created bigger political problems for Sony
To put that into perspective, the previous Tom Holland Spider-Man films performed well in China. Spider-Man: Homecoming from 2017 made $116 million there, and its 2019 sequel, Spider-Man: Far From Home, made $198 million. Adding similar numbers to No Way Home‘s total would have pushed it well past $2 billion. Sony has had quite a few surprising moments that caught the internet’s attention recently, and this revelation is no different.
Rothman also explained another reason for his refusal. He said, “I really didn’t look forward to sitting in front of Congress telling them why I cut the Statue of Liberty out at the request of the Chinese Communist Party.” This shows that beyond the film’s creative side, he was also thinking about the political consequences of removing an iconic American symbol.
It is worth noting that his concerns were not just about art or money, but also about how it would look for an American studio to edit a major film at the request of a foreign government. The Statue of Liberty carries strong national symbolism, and cutting it could have drawn serious criticism from lawmakers.
Looking ahead, Rothman mentioned that another live-action Spider-Man reboot is coming, this time with “new people.” However, it will not happen anytime soon. Meanwhile, Sony’s gaming division continues to push boundaries, including a newly patented AI ghost player feature designed to step in for absent players.
Rothman’s thinking is that “scarcity has value,” meaning Sony wants audiences to genuinely miss Spider-Man before bringing him back to the big screen. It is a deliberate strategy for one of the most well-known characters in superhero films.
Published: Feb 26, 2026 12:45 pm