Film’s altered ending ‘makes no sense’

FIGHT Club director David Fincher has no idea why the movie’s ending was changed by Chinese censors.

The 1999 movie was altered for its airing on streamer Tencent Video.

The film-maker said it “made no sense” to him. He told Empire magazine: “A company licensed the film from New Regency to show it in China, with a boilerplate (contract) that states: “You have to understand cuts may be made for censorship purposes.”

“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.”

The director said the altered ending was close to Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club’ novel, which sees the Narrator – played by Edward Norton in the movie – in an asylum after surviving a suicide attempt when Project Mayhem falls through.

The altered censors’ ending saw Tyler (Brad Pitt) admitted to an asylum before rehabilitation.

“The people who wrote the BandAid (ending) in China must have read the book because it adheres pretty closely,” Fincher said.

In the end, censors reversed the decision, although no explanation has been given. |