China censors chop references to prostitution, torture in ‘Skyfall’

Moviegoers in China finally got to watch “Skyfall” on Monday when the latest installment of the James Bond franchise opened in the country, but the version they saw was different to the one the rest of the world got to watch.

The BBC reported that Chinese censors chopped a scene in which a security guard is shot dead in Shanghai and changed subtitles to hide references to prostitution in Macau and torture by Chinese security forces.

Fans of the British secret service agent were not impressed and took to popular social networking sites to vent their frustration, according to the Agence France-Presse. 

"It's annoying! Every time it's the same!" wrote one user named Niccilee in a post on a popular microblog. "We've been waiting for this for so long and then they cut it and re-cut it!"

Another disappointed blogger called Leslie Zhuang asked if censors were “afraid of copy-cat killings by other criminals.”

"If scenes like this are cut, you may as well not import the film!"

But, as The Hollywood Reporter pointed out, it is normal for foreign films to be released in China with scenes deemed politically sensitive or inappropriate to be left on the cutting room floor.

Just ask the makers of Cloud Atlas. 

Despite the changes, Skyfall took $5.1 million at the box office on Monday, which is not bad for a Monday, The Hollywood Reporter said.