If Burger King’s Russian subsidiary has their way, Moscow could yank the Stephen King thriller “It” from the country’s moviehouses, The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday.
Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) is looking into a complaint by the fast-food franchiser that the movie’s killer-clown character Pennywise could call to mind Ronald McDonald and accordingly encourage Russian moviegoers to patronize the business, THR said.
An unnamed FAS spokeswoman told THR that the agency’s concern was not “with the content of the film because the writer and director have their own creative understanding of any character,” but rather whether it violates the country’s laws on product placement in movies.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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