Chinese censors have edited the ending of the new Minions: The Rise of Gru movie for their audiences.
The ending that was tacked on by authorities in China leaves the antihero "bad guys" turning good.
The film is set in the 1970s and tells the story about how a young Gru got his start in crime.
In the Chinese version, a set of still subtitled images at the end tells audiences that Gru's mentor Wild Knuckles gets caught by police who send him to prison for 20 years. While serving his time, the censors wrote, the former criminal discovers his "love of acting" and sets up a theater troupe.
Gru "eventually became one of the good guys," according to the alternate ending, and "his biggest accomplishment is being the father to his three girls." 🇨🇳 censors have altered the ending of Minions: The Rise of Gru
In the original ending, Gru and Wild Knuckles ride off together after Wild Knuckles faked his own death to evade capture from authorities
In the #Chinese version it’s 20 year’s in Prison
Hollywood #Kowtow’s to China pic.twitter.com/oNmNgJa9z2
— the stranger (@thestranger515) August 22, 2022
A report from France 24 noted that "it is unclear if the ending was altered due to censors' demands or if producers considered it a more palatable conclusion for the Chinese market."
Minions: The Rise of Gru is the fifth instalment of the popular "Despicable Me" franchise.
This isn't the first time China has altered the endings of Hollywood films.
Earlier this year, Chinese streaming site Tencent Video made headlines after altering the ending of the 1999 classic film Fight Club.
In the actual ending of the movie, Edward Norton’s character kills off his imaginary alter ego Tyler Durden and watches as buildings explode and civilization collapses.
The Chinese ending still has Norton's character killing off Durden, but instead of the explosions it showed a black screen with the text, "the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding." It added that Durden, the imaginary friend, was sent to the “lunatic asylum” and released in 2012. FIGHT CLUB’s ending for the Chinese release (on Tencent Video) was changed to this and now I’m waiting for someone to fanfic a sequel based on this censored ending. pic.twitter.com/zYB0bY3Dlp
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) January 24, 2022
Universal Studios has not yet commented on the Chinese ending of The Rise of Gru.
