Warners Bros. defends cutting gay dialogue from Fantastic Beasts in China
Fantastic Beasts movie for the film’s release in China.Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore again looks at the early life of the Harry Potter character, Albus Dumbledore (played by Jude Law).This is the third movie in a planned five-movie franchise and the first one in which Dumbledore is explicitly depicted as gay.That poses problems for Warner Bros, who are counting on the film to perform well in international territories for it to turn a healthy profit.The lines of dialogue axed from China run for six seconds, according to Variety.
They allude to a previous relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald (played by Mads Mikkelsen).The specific lines are “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love”.
The cuts were made at the request of authorities in China.Warner Bros has defended the edit.“As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors,” the company said in a statement to Variety.“Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.”“In the case of ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,’ a six-second cut was requested and Warner Bros.
accepted those changes to comply with local requirements but the spirit of the film remains intact.“We want audiences everywhere in the world to see and enjoy this film, and it’s important to us that Chinese audiences have the opportunity to experience it as well, even with these minor edits.”Related: WATCH: The gay moment you probably missed in the new ‘Fantastic Beasts’ trailerAcco.
