The author of the book "Fight Club", which was adapted into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, Chuck Palahniuk, responded on his Twitter page to news that in China, the ending has been changed.
He sarcastically commented "Have You Seen This Sh*t? This is SUPER wonderful! Everyone gets a happy ending in China!".
In the final scene in the original movie, Norton's character - The Narrator - kills his alter-ego Tyler, played by Brad Pitt, and watches skyscrapers explode as part of an anarchistic move to destroy consumerism with his girlfriend Marla (Helena Bonham Carter).
In China, on the biggest streaming platform, Tencent Video, however, the original ending was replaced with a black slate, reading: “The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding”. Also, according to the Chinese version, the main character was sent to a “lunatic system” for psychological treatment.
Palahniuk, who wrote the novel in 1996 reacted with sarcasm in his newsletter on Substack as well.
“Tyler and the gang were all arrested. He was tried and sentenced to a mental asylum. How amazing”, he wrote, adding: “I’d no idea! Justice always wins. Nothing ever exploded. Fini”.
He added: “My guess is they also omit the flash of penis at the end. And that they pixelate the dildo in Marla’s room. Crime does not pay!”
The alternate ending of the now-classic 1999 film may be a result of the strict censorship in China, but no comment were provided by Tencent.
The film adaptation of "Fight Club" was directed by David Fincher, starring such personas as Meat Loaf, Jared Leto, Holt McCallany, and Zach Grenier, besides Pitt and Norton.
Meat Loaf passed away at the age of 74 on 21 January.