Warner Bros has edited out references to a gay relationship in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore for the film’s release in China.
Six seconds from the movie’s 142-minute runtime were removed, with the dialogue that alludes to the romantic past between male characters Dumbledore (played by ) and Grindelwald () being cut.
Back in 2007, author J.K. Rowling revealed Dumbledore was gay, but the character’s sexuality was never explicitly referenced until this third Fantastic Beasts instalment.
‘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,’ Warner Bors said in a statement.
‘Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.’
They continued: ‘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.’
The dialogue lines removed include ‘because I was in love with you’ and ‘the summer Gellert [Grindelwald] and I fell in love’. The rest of the film remains the same, including an emphasis on the intimate bond shared by Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
Speaking at a question and answer session at New York’s Carnuiege Hall in 2007, Rowling previously told fans in regards to Dumbledore’s sexuality (via ): ‘My truthful answer to you… I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.
‘Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald [a bad wizard he defeated long ago], and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was.
‘To an extent, do we say it excused Dumbledore a little more because falling in love can blind us to an extent, but he met someone as brilliant as he was and, rather like Bellatrix, he was very drawn to this brilliant person and horribly, terribly let down by him.’
She added: ‘Yeah, that’s how I always saw Dumbledore. In fact, recently I was in a script read-through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying, “I knew a girl once, whose hair…” I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, “Dumbledore’s gay!”‘
The Secrets of Dumbledore is set several years after the events of The Crimes Of Grindelwald, and sees Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander and Jude Law’s Albus Dumbledore prepare to face the shadowy figure of Grindelwald in battle.
Mikkelsen made famous by Johnny Depp.
