When Chappie was released in the US, it was a R-rated film. But for the movie’s upcoming Japanese release, Sony decided to edit the film for kids 12 years old and up. Here’s where things get really awkward.
Sony Pictures Japan issued a statement about re-editing the movie to give it a more family-friendly rating of PG-12, which is similar to the American PG-13 rating. (For more on Japanese movie ratings, read this.)
[via Sony Pictures Japan
One big takeaway is that Sony Pictures Japan claims that the film’s director has approved of the changes. Blomkamp is not specifically named, and the release simply says “kantoku” (監督) or “director”. The other big takeaway is “to appeal to a wider audience.”
Twitter user Tak ST has translated the entire release into English, adding footnotes for further explanation:
Picture: Tak ST
Since Sony Pictures Japan isn’t disclosing the edits and since the movie hasn’t opened in Japan yet, it’s impossible to say how the film was censored. ParentPreviews.com has a list of the movie’s adult content, so you can draw your own conclusions as to what has been toned down for Japan.
Upset, fans contacted Blomkamp via Twitter, telling them that they didn’t want to see a censored version of the movie in Japan. Blomkamp, however, seems to be hearing about these cuts for the first time.
@mazy_3 don’t know what you mean. One edit…worldwide
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) April 15, 2015
@mazy_3 @SonyPicturesJP no… I’m trying to get to the bottom of it. Was Never told
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) April 15, 2015
@maquiovicci let me find out. I don’t know about this…
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) April 15, 2015
Blomkamp wrote it was “disturbing” that Sony is saying he approved of the cuts. “Well,” he added, “if they did indeed change the edit then yes they lied.”
Chappie will open in Japan on May 23. As Sony Pictures stated in its release, there are no plans currently for the movie’s original version to be released in Japan.
Comments
12 responses to “Chappie Censored In Japan, Director Wasn’t Told”
The cuts hopefully made the movie better
Must be a case of each to his own. I’m up to three cinema viewings and keen on a fourth.
They should have added more ‘brutal’ scenes cos there was maybe 1 of those…
Was it when
Hugh Jackman’s super robot dude ripped that guy in half?Yep pretty much. I was expecting District 9 levels of brutality except with robots as so many people had drawn those comparisons but sadly no. I enjoyed the flick but its certainly his weakest.
I love his work, but you’re right… nothing has been quite as amazing as D9.
Not that they’ve been bad, just… not amazing.
Whoops. Saying that the director approved them is an odd mistake to make. I wonder which poor ‘overzealous communications rep’ will take the fall for that ‘misunderstanding’?
Given the Andrew Garfield-Spidey situation and now this, it doesn’t look like Sony Pictures are the best Publishers to work with
Which situation is that?
He spoke about how he felt sony came in and changed Amazing 2, which they weren’t happy with. Though to be fair he also didn’t turn up to some big wigs dinner so it was a bit back and forth
WHY YOU CHANGE DADDY’S MOVIE?!
Hmmm, it looks like this article in its entirety has been re-posted on “The Playlist” (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/chappie-given-pg-13-cut-for-japan-without-neill-blomkamps-approval-20150416) and is listed there as being “By Kevin Jagernauth | The Playlist”.
At the bottom of the article is a link to the Kotaku original, however it’s clearly not done in a very obvious way as the Playlist article is now on IMDb with Keven Jagernauth being credited for it (http://www.imdb.com/news/ni58513187/). I hope that Kotaku is able to make sure that the genuine author of this article receives the proper credit.