16. He Shot the First American Film in Shanghai Since the 1930s
When Spielberg produced the Empire of the Sun, he took advantage of the thawing tensions between China and the United States by filming it on-site in Shanghai. The film received enormous critical acclaim and was declared one of the best films of the 1980s. However, like The Sugarland Express, it did not receive much attention from the general public. It showed that Spielberg could not rely on his popularity for continued success.