Update 2/7/2022 at 4:16 p.m.: Tencent has restored the original ending of Fight Club after it had initially censored the film's ending.
Censors in China have cut the ending of the movie Fight Club, according to Vice News.
David Fincher's acclaimed 1999 cult film concludes with the protagonist watching bombs destroy the headquarters of major credit card companies, the culmination of a vast anarchist plan known as Project Mayhem. But in the Far East, Chinese moviegoers have lost the plot. When streamed on Tencent, the screen fades to black, and viewers are told police stopped the protagonist's alter ego, Tyler Durden, before the bombs were set off.
"Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding," a screen caption read. "After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012." The change was approved by the Chinese government, but it is unclear who initiated it.
Hollywood has enjoyed cozy relations with the Chinese Communist Party in recent years. Disney filmed portions of its 2020 box office hit Mulan in Xinjiang, where the CCP has committed human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. And in a surprising display of fealty to the CCP, actor and professional wrestler John Cena in May 2021 apologized to Chinese moviegoers for calling Taiwan a country.
China routinely censors American and other foreign films that are considered overly violent, sexually explicit, or subversive to the Communist Party.
Fight Club was last shown in China during the Shanghai International Film Festival, though pirated versions are available.