10 Movies Totally Changed For Overseas Audiences
*This joke is not available in your region*
Somewhat unsurprisingly, the global approach to movie releasing can often lead to some of the more US-centric aspects of films becoming a little lost in translation. To fix this, Hollywood invented a neat trick for studios - regional edits.
Whether because they're attempting to protect political and religious sensitivities, catching the audience up with some important historical background, or a little bit of regional-specific product placement, studio executives tinker with the original version of a film make it more suited for an overseas release.
Sometimes these changes can be a little more heavy-handed, with entire scenes and characters removed at the behest of foreign censors. And who cares if that compromises the plot or logic of the movie, right?
10. Iron Man 3 Was 4 Minutes Longer In China
The Chinese release of Shane Black's 2013 Iron Man 3 is a slightly rarer example of regional editing as, instead of featuring mass cuts, the film added 4 minutes of extra footage to increase a Chinese character's screen-time.
US audiences may be fleetingly familiar with Wang Xueqi's Dr. Wu, who Tony Stark meets at the New Year's Eve party during the film's opening scene.
Due to the involvement of the Chinese production company DMG Entertainment, the character's role was expanded for the regional release.
This version featured Wu calling Stark after he challenges The Mandarin to tell him that "China is with him" and to expand on Wu's role in performing Stark's surgery at the end of the film.
Further additions included numerous examples of China-specific product placement, bizarrely including a popular milk drink.
Unsurprisingly, mainly as a result of the blindingly obvious product placement, the changes were not appreciated by Chinese audiences, with many openly admitting that they preferred the original version.