David Fincher Talks ‘Fight Club’ Censorship In China & Explains The Film Isn’t Known For “Being Super Cuddly”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Kanaa,” an Indian-produced film from 2018 which tells the story of an aspiring woman cricketer and delves into issues of race and gender equality, will get a theatrical release in mainland China on March 18, 2022, according to Chinese state media. It is only the second Tamil-language film to be released in China in recent years, after “2.0” in 2019.

After retreating on Thursday due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. stock markets rebounded sharply today as bargain-hunters bought in and investors cheered news of possible diplomatic talks.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” continued its domination of the mainland Chinese box office into a third week. But cinemagoing activity continued to slow down after peaking at the beginning of the month with the Lunar New Year holidays.Hollywood new release “Death on the Nile” did not have enough impact to make it beyond fourth place or to change the overall direction of the market. “Lake Changjin II” earned $19.8 million over the weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSony’s long-in-the-works video game adaptation “Uncharted” collected $44.1 million between Friday and Sunday, enough to lead domestic box office charts and solidify Tom Holland’s star power.The big-budget action adventure has been positioned as a key test of Holland’s bankability outside of his blockbuster success as Spider-Man. “Uncharted” has received mixed reviews, at best, so it’s safe to assume the 25-year-old British actor had a healthy hand in selling tickets. It also helps that “Uncharted” is rated PG-13 and based on one of the most popular video games.Directed by “Ruben Fleischer, who previously led Tom Hardy’s comic book tentpole “Venom” to box office glory, “Uncharted” is expected to earn $52 million from 4,275 North American theaters through the President’s Day holiday on Monday.

Bill Maher zeroed in on China during the latest edition of “Real Time”, targeting the winter Olympics in Beijing during the “New Rules” segment.

Bill Maher couldn’t hide his contempt for the country hosting the Winter Olympics on his Friday Real Time. 

EXCLUSIVE: Pro basketball player Jarnell Stokes is partnering with veteran animation exec and producer Jay Fukuto (The Simpsons, King of the Hill) to co-write and produce Wings to Fly, an animated feature based on his sports-themed children’s book of the same name.

Vivienne Chow Action thriller “Limbo” and “Anita,” a biopic about the late Canto-pop queen Anita Mui lead the nomination race for this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, which is holding its 40th edition after being postponed from last year.“Limbo,” a Cantonese noir that follows a cop duo’s hunt for a serial killer, received 14 nominations including best film, best director for Soi Cheang, best screenplay, best actor for Lam Ka-tung and best actress for Cya Liu. The film had earlier won the critics heart at the annual Hong Kong Film Critics’ Society Awards, which named “Limbo” as best film and Liu best actress for her role as a young addict.“Anita” received 12 nominations, including best film and best director for Longman Leung.

Fight Club.Back in January, the 1999 film hit headlines after it emerged that its final scenes had been altered on streaming platform Tencent Video, replacing The Narrator (Edward Norton) killing off imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and watching buildings collapse.Instead, a blank slate reads: “The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to a lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment.”Now, in a new interview with Empire, Fincher has spoken out about the edit.“It’s funny to me that the people who wrote the Band-Aid [ending] in China must have read the book, because it adheres pretty closely,” he said, referring to the fact that in Chuck Palahniuk’s novel on which the film is based, ‘Jack’ is in an institution at the end.When asked about the ending, he replied: “Here’s what we know.

original ending of “Fight Club” has been restored on Chinese streamer Tencent Video, director David Fincher is still baffled as to why it was ever changed in the first place.“A company licensed the film from New Regency to show it in China, with a boilerplate [contract]: ‘You have to understand cuts may be made for censorship purposes,'” the director explained in a recent interview with Empire. “No one said, ‘If we don’t like the ending, can we change it?’ So there’s now a discussion being had as to what ‘trims’ means.”Fincher added that it wasn’t so much the trims themselves that bothered him, but why they were made.

Zack Sharf David Fincher has finally weighed in on China’s “Fight Club” censorship. As reported by Variety last month, Fincher’s “Fight Club” was uploaded to Tencent Video, China’s largest video streamer, with an entirely new ending that was the exact opposite of the director’s finale.

The return of popular American sitcom Friends to streaming services in China has provoked a significant online backlash after viewers noted numerous changes that had been made to the show, including the removal of LGBTQ references.

Naman Ramachandran Protagonist Pictures has closed multiple deals for several key territories on Sundance selection and Berlin Film Festival competition title “Call Jane.”Territories sold include DCM for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Umbrella Entertainment for Australia and New Zealand, Mis.label for Scandinavia, Eagle for Italy, Shaw for Singapore and Empire for South Africa.Directed by Phyllis Nagy, the Oscar nominated writer of “Carol,” the film stars Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Chris Messina. The film follows Joy (Banks), a traditional 1960s housewife who unexpectedly falls pregnant and finds the Janes, an underground abortion movement led by Virginia (Weaver).

Nathan Chen has won Olympic gold!

Naman Ramachandran Singaporean filmmaker Anthony Chen has wrapped shooting of his first Mainland Chinese feature “The Breaking Ice.”Hailed as one of Asia’s brightest young directors, Chen competed in the shorts competition at Cannes in 2007 with “Grandma” and won the Camera d’Or with his debut feature “Ilo Ilo” in 2013. His sophomore feature “Wet Season” premiered in competition at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

Nathan Chen has earned his place in the Olympics record book!

EXCLUSIVE: After teaming in the Disney/Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Michelle Yeoh is set to top an international cast for the Destin Daniel Cretton-directed Disney+ fantastical series American Born Chinese. She will star alongside Ben Wang (MacGyver), Yeo Yann Yann (Wet Season), Chin Han (Mortal Kombat), Daniel Wu (Reminiscence), Ke Huy Quan (Finding Ohana), former Taekwondo champion Jim Liu and Sydney Taylor (Just Add Magic).

Fight Club‘s original ending has been restored on Chinese streaming service Tencent Video following cuts to its conclusion.Last month, the 1999 film hit headlines after it emerged that its final scenes had been altered on the platform, replacing The Narrator (Edward Norton) killing of imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and watching buildings collapse.Instead, a blank slate reads: “The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding. After the trial, Tyler was sent to a lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment.”Following a backlash, however, Tencent has now reportedly restored 11 of the 12 minutes cut in its version, only keeping a sex scene between Durden and Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) out.China has strict rules on censorship, which may have explained the original cut ending, though it is unclear if the backlash has led to the restoration.