On August 19, the Despicable Me series’ latest animated film, Minions: The Rise of Gru, dropped in the Chinese mainland. Interestingly, it’s one minute longer than the global version with an altered ending.
At the end of the Chinese cinema version, the ‘Despicable’ villain Gru eventually becomes a good guy and “his biggest accomplishment is being the father to his three girls,” reads the caption.
What’s more, Gru’s crime mentor Wild Knuckles doesn’t escape as in the global version but serves 20 years in jail instead.
It’s also worth mentioning that the film includes multiple Chinese elements such as kung fu and has earned 11.5 million USD in Chinese cinemas in just three days.
This is not the first time that a foreign film has received a new ending in China. A recent prominent example involves the 1999 cult classic Fight Club.
Earlier this year, a new version of the film appeared on the Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video, replacing the final explosion scene with a black screen and a coda.
It further states that Tyler, a character who doesn’t actually exist in the movie, was sent to a “lunatic asylum” after trial, where he received psychological treatment before being released in 2012.