Fans were overjoyed to learn that theTim Miller-directed,Ryan Reynolds-ledDeadpoolwould berated R. In fact, Fox’s anti-hero film isone of our most highly anticipated films.It arguably received the best reaction from fans during the San Diego Comic-Con presentations and itspromotional campaigncontinues to tap into the character’s unique fourth-wall-breaking brand of humor. However, the marketplace in China doesn’t holdDeadpoolin the same regard.
According toThe Hollywood Reporter, looking atvarious Chinese reportsand confirmed by their own source,Deadpoolhas been denied a release in the country due to its violence, graphic language, and nudity. The trade noted that China’s censorship division often works with Hollywood in order to produce cleaned-up cuts of R-rated films, but this wasn’t possible withDeadpoolbecause — funny enough — cutting out the offensive material would form holes in the plot.
Some of this offensive material has already been spotted in the trailers, such as the merc with the mouth firing a bullet through three heads, slicing and dicing his way through enemies, and the overall blood bath on a freeway.
Hollywood films make up a significant portion of China’s film profits, though their censorship regulations have been very specific in the past. According toa reportpublished in October by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a scene involving clothes drying on a line inMission: Impossible IIIwas omitted for the China release because it was not deemed a positive portrayal of Shanghai. Similarly,Skyfallhad to cut a scene in which Bond kills a Chinese security guard because regulators wouldn’t tolerate the image of a foreigner killing a Chinese citizen. Nevertheless, it’s still a financial benefit for the U.S. to release films in the country, hence this seemingly ridiculous at times back-and-forth.
In terms ofDeadpool’s R rating, writer-producerSimon KinbergtoldEW, “You either commit to a truly outrageous boundary-pushing kind of movie or you don’t.” So, at least for fans in the U.S., the fact that China has a problem with the content could mean that our hopes for the film will be fulfilled.
