David Fincher’s Classic Fight Club Just Got a New (Very Different) Ending in China
A different and new version of the classic Hollywood film Fight Club is now available online in China, but here’s the twist: it has a very different ending. This new version, which was made available on the Tencent Video streaming platform over this past weekend, goes on to alter the anarchist message that David Fincher’s cult classic had, with the authorities foiling the whole plot at the last minute of the film.
“The police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding,” reads the new coda as the film fades to black. “After the trial, Tyler was sent to lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012.”
FIGHT CLUB’s ending for the Chinese release (on Tencent Video) was changed to this and now I’m waiting for someone to fanfic a sequel based on this censored ending. pic.twitter.com/zYB0bY3Dlp
— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) January 24, 2022
The original Fight Club’s ending was far more anti-capitalist than this. In the movie’s closing scenes, Edward Norton’s narrator ends up killing his dangerous alter ego, Tyler Durden (which was played by Brad Pitt), with a well-placed gunshot to his head. After this, along with his love interest in the movie, Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), he simply watches as Tyler’s plan towards the destruction of the global economy comes to life.
As various skyscrapers explode and topple across the whole city, it is suggested that Tyler’s anarchist group has finally managed to wipe out all debt by literally toppling all the banks. Tencent Video has yet to comment on these changes made to the release in China.
Either way, classic fans of Fight Club don’t really seem happy.
“How would the studio allow this?” asked one fan via Twitter. “What about director David Fincher? Doesn’t he have to sign off on this? I can’t imagine him ever doing that unless he thought this was just so hilarious he had to do it.”
Meanwhile, Fight Club has gone on to retain a strong cult following since its release back in 1999, with IGN even naming it as one of the best ‘90s movies of the 1990s.
Fight Club was directed by David Fincher, based on a script by Jim Uhls. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt star in the movie, alongside Meat Loaf, Helena Bonham Carter, and Jared Leto.
