‘Deadpool’ Banned In China

Deadpool recently earned its R-rating for “strong language and violence throughout, sexual content and graphic nudity.” This came after months of teasing that nothing is taboo, promising a “hard R” rating, and also smacking around Mario Lopez just because. While most fans were pumped about a hard R superhero movie, officials in China weren’t so keen.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, China’s censorship authorities have banned Deadpool from Chinese theaters due to “violence, nudity, and graphic language.”

China has no ratings system, so the country’s media regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), makes an up-down judgment on all film imports, approving or banning them for consumption by Chinese viewers of all ages.

Normally, a studio will re-cut a film to please the SAPPRFT, but a source tells The Hollywood Reporter that the offending scenes were too entwined with the plot to cut. Considering China is the second largest theatrical market in the world — with other Marvel movies earning millions there ($240 million for Avengers: Age of Ultron, $105.4 million for Ant-Man, and $96.4 million for Guardians of the Galaxy) — Fox may want to reconsider that one little kid’s request for a PG-13 cut.

We’ll wait and see how this story develops; we can’t imagine Marvel leaving that much money on the table when some creative editing (or graft) could get the film approved. In the meantime, here’s a spanking new Deadpool TV spot promising approximately five percent new footage:

(Via The Hollywood Reporter and 20th Century Fox)

Now Watch: How ‘Deadpool’ Went From A Studio-Rejected Test Scene To A Marketing Phenomenon

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