Warner Bros. China censors Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore’s dialogue about gay relationship before release

References to a gay relationship in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore were edited out of the movie by Warner Bros. for the film’s release upon request by China. The long-awaited reveal of Dumbledore and Grindelwald's romantic past is being censored but the studio says “the spirit of the film remains intact.”

According to Variety, Warner Bros. cut out six seconds of the 142-minute film because it refers to a gay relationship between Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) that had happened in the past. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling revealed Dumbledore was gay in 2009, but the movies had never explicitly referenced the character’s sexuality until this third Fantastic Beasts entry. Per the report, Warner Bros. accepted China’s request to remove six seconds from the movie that had references to gay relationship.

The studio cut out the exchange between the two characters, in which they said, “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love.” The film otherwise stayed the same with the audience still knowing that the two had been intimate. “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,” Warner Bros. said in a statement to Variety. “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,” the statement added. “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.”

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