'Django Unchained' Censored? China Pulls Movie From Theaters

It looks like Chinese moviegoers are less one film at the box office this weekend. Slated to premiere yesterday, the Chinese government abruptly pulled 'Django Unchained' from all theaters. The reason, an unspecified technical problem which has those involved with the film left wondering what happened.

The two-time Academy Award winning film by Quentin Tarantino tells the story of Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave on a mission to reunite with his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Crossing paths with a dentist turned bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz), Dr. Schultz makes a promise to help Django rescue his bride from the plantation of slave owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) - provided he assist him with collecting bounties. Released in the States on Christmas Day 2012, the movie grossed over $30 million dollars and quickly moved up the "must see" lists of many critics.

There are many reasons why China might have pulled the plug on the popular Tarantino film. Though popular, it contained controversial subject matter and had enough bloodshed to make the goriest of movie-lovers cringe. China is notorious for its censorship, which may have played a part in the movie's failure to premiere. Yet - it appears some edits were made on behalf of the production company as they are well aware China has the second-largest film market in the world.

Zhang Miao, Director of the Chinese branch of Sony Pictures notes, "What we call bloodshed and violence is just a means of serving the purpose of the film, and these slight adjustments will not affect the basic quality of the film - such as turning the blood to a darker color, or lowering the height of the splatter of blood. "

Even with their attention to the details (or blood), there is speculation that the movie halted due to brief nudity scenes that were missed while editing. During one scene of the movie slave handlers drag a nude Broomhilda from a sun box. Towards the end of the movie, Django hangs upside down nude (nothing shown) in preparation for castration.

It's a bit hard to believe Tarantino and company would overlook those two scenes. Hopefully 'Django Unchained' will premiere in Chinese theaters soon.