David Fincher’s cult classicFight Club, which is about a Narrator (Edward Norton) discovering and combating his dangerous, anarchist alter-ego (Brad Pitt), recently received a new ending on a Chinese streaming service,Tencent Video. Following the backlash, it appears the originalFight Clubending has now been restored by the Chinese streamer.
The original conclusion ofFight Clubshows the destruction of the alter-ego but his plan of “total chaos” and “financial equilibrium” just beginning as the film’s last frames display buildings exploding in front of the protagonist and his love interest (Helena Bonham Carter). China’s film censorship system demands that criminals always be punished for their crimes on-screen and their potential harm to society must be thwarted, so before Tencent Video could stream the20th Centuryfilm, it would have to be edited to fit the censorship standards of the country.
RELATED:Netflix Reveals Cast Of ’90s-Set That ’70s Show Sequel Series
For fans of the 1999 classic, this would not do, and news of the changes quickly spread on social media, causing a huge backlash. The Hollywood Reporter now notes that Tencent Video, in response to the backlash and criticism, has restored the originalFight Clubending on its platform. While the streaming service has not commented on the incident, it is clear the platform feared the backlash more than the anarchistic end of the film. It seems, in this one instance, the right course of action was to break the first rule and talk aboutFight Club.
The Chinese streaming platform and the edit received widespread criticism not only for censoring the film but for doing it in such a weak and awkward fashion. Tencent Video cut the original ending completely and replaced it with a title card explaining the criminals had been caught, their ill plans foiled by authorities, and the Narrator was sent to a “lunatic asylum.” Not only is this new ending less satisfying visually than the original, it also destroys Fincher’s trademark gritty and dark film styling by giving it a happily ever after conclusion that is not cohesive with the rest of the film.The newFight Clubendingcaused such a backlash on social media and in mainstream news that the streaming platform backtracked and is now streaming the film with its original ending, restoring everything but a minute of nudity and sexual content.
Palahniuk is no stranger to censorship, some of his work is even banned in various places across the United States, so he took the incident much better than fans. However, the outrage by fans and the media resulted inFight Clubbeing restored to its original version in China.
Fight Clubis available to stream on Amazon Prime
