Dialogue from an upcoming Harry Potter prequel movie has been cut from the theatrical release of the film in China to appease the country’s LGBT censorship.
Six seconds of dialogue from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore that alludes to a relationship between male characters Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen), was edited out of the China release of the film.
Warner Bros confirmed in a statement that the lines “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love” were cut from the blockbuster after a request from Chinese authorities, but that the “spirit of the film remains intact”.
The statement read: “As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors.
“Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.
“In the case of ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,’ a six-second cut was requested and Warner Bros. accepted those changes to comply with local requirements but the spirit of the film remains intact.
“We want audiences everywhere in the world to see and enjoy this film, and it’s important to us that Chinese audiences have the opportunity to experience it as well, even with these minor edits.”
Harry Potter author JK Rowling announced in 2009 that Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, was gay and added that the spin-off prequel would explore this reveal.
Out Magazine, an LGBT publication, slammed the production company for their decision on Twitter.
They said: “It’s a shame that, in 2022, certain countries are still censoring LGBTQIA+ characters in film and television.”
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