16 Apr – Warner Bros. recently confirmed that it has now removed some dialogue from the new "Fantastic Beasts" movie, "The Secrets of Dumbledore" for the audiences in China. According to THR, the omitted dialogues, which are only six seconds of the film's 143-minute run, were the ones referring to the romantic past between Albus Dumbledore (played by Jude Law) and the movie's main villain Gellert Grindelwald (played by Mads Mikkelsen replacing Johnny Depp). The lines are "I was in love with you" and "the summer Gellert and I fell in love", which is the first time Dumbledore confirms his sexual orientation since author JK Rowling's admission about it in 2007.
The studio explained, "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." "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. 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." It is noted that the film is already topping the box office in China during its opening weekend. However, it didn't make as much money as the studio hoped as half of China's cinemas are closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.