The communist regime’s government censors are well known for editing or banning Western movies. And now its latest victim is Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which has seen its release pulled in the Asian country. According to The Hollywood Reporter’s sources, the October 25 was pulled over the portrayal of Bruce Lee in the film. Allegedly, the late star’s daughter Shannon Lee appealed to China’s National Film Administration for changes to be made to scenes featuring her father in the movie.
It’s believed that Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s Chinese backer Bona Film Group is “frantically working” with Tarantino for a new cut that will pass the censors for release.
Should the film not release in China, Sony Pictures and Bona would miss out on the country’s enormous market.
The studios have hoped that the $366 million made by the film to date would surpass $400 million thanks to China’s box office.
So what exactly was Shannon Lee’s issue with the portrayal of her father, who died in 1973 at the age of 32?
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She told Deadline in the summer: “In these instances, there are a lot of different ways you can go.
“If they contacted me, I could be completely unreasonable and a pain in the a** and make all kinds of ridiculous demands — but they don’t know that I’m not going to do that.”
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She added: “A lot of times, the best practice is ‘we’ll just stay away from that so we don’t have to even open that can of worms’.
“With Tarantino’s film, to not have been included in any kind of way, when I know that he reached out to other people but did not reach out to me, there’s a level of annoyance — and there’s part of me that says ‘This is not worth my time and my energy’.
“Let’s just see how the universe deals with this one.”
In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Bruce Lee is played by Mike Moh during a scene with Brad Pitt’s stuntman Cliff Booth.
Some fans took issue with the scene where Lee comes across as arrogant and narcissistic, before losing a fight to Pitt’s Booth.
Meanwhile, Chinese cinemas released the previously banned Spirited Away earlier this year.
The Oscar-winning Studio Ghibli classic hit cinemas in 2001, but has finally come out in China.
As for why Spirited Away was banned in the first place, it may have something to do with previous tensions in Sino-Japanese relations which have thawed in recent years.
Another reason could be the spiritual content of Spirited Away, since China’s official regulator prohibits films that “promote cults or superstition” because such ideas are not compatible with the ruling Communist Party’s atheistic secularism.
This resulted in the female-led Ghostbusters reboot being banned in China.