China will no longer be the bad guy in an upcoming remake of the 1980’s Cold War classic movie “Red Dawn,” the Los Angeles Times is reporting.

Instead, the studio that recently made the film is digitally swapping in North Korea in the places of China as the villain. The original film portrayed a band of Midwestern teenagers in the United States defending against an attack from the Soviet Union. China was meant to be the new enemy in this latest version, perhaps guaranteeing an unhappy response here.

The Times’ entertainment section reports: “Without Beijing even uttering a critical word, MGM is changing the villains in its 'Red Dawn' remake from Chinese to North Korean. It's all about maintaining access to the Asian superpower's lucrative box office.”

The Times’ report is a must-read for anyone interested in China’s “soft power” approach to global politics and its increasingly long reach around the world.