Monster Hunter Filmmakers Apologize and Remove the Controversial Scene
The filmmakers of Monster Hunter's movie adaptation responded to the accusations of China's finding a scene offensive to their culture and removed it to alleviate the situation.
Yesterday, we reported of significant controversy surroundind the Monster Hunter movie, which has made its debut in Chinese cinemas. However, the movie was quickly withdrawn due to a knee joke ("chi-knees") which was found offensive by many locals. We did not have to wait long for a response from the German studio responsible for the work, Constantin Film. It issued an official apology and informed that the line was removed from the final version of Monster Hunter's (via Deadline):
“We sincerely apologize to Chinese audiences for a line of dialogue contained in an early scene of Monster Hunter. There was absolutely no intent to discriminate, insult or otherwise offend anyone of Chinese heritage. Constantin Film has listened to the concerns expressed by Chinese audiences and removed the line that has led to this inadvertent misunderstanding.”
Despite the relatively quick reaction of the studio, we still don't know whether the movie will return to the multiplexes there. It has still not been confirmed in which versions of the movie the scene was removed. Even if it happened to the Chinese copies, what will the situation be like in the USA or Europe? Chinese authorities will certainly monitor the whole situation and most likely will not allow this joke to appear in any form even outside the country.
Interestingly, Monster Hunter managed to earn $2.65 million last weekend on a total of 5 markets where it appeared, thus taking number 1 position in terms of popularity on the planet.
