China censors cut 40 minutes off science fiction epic Cloud Atlas

State media censors will edit out a hefty 35-minutes of film from German science fiction drama Cloud Atlas before its release next week, Shanghai-based Dongfang Daily reported on Wednesday.

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Publicity posters for "Cloud Atlas" at the movie's premiere in Beijing. Photo: AP

Published: 4:21pm, 23 Jan 2013Updated: 6:05pm, 23 Jan 2013

State media censors will edit out a hefty 35-minutes of film from German science fiction drama Cloud Atlas before its release next week, Shanghai-based Dongfang Daily reported on Wednesday.

The original film, based on the novel of the same name, spanned 172-minutes long for European and American markets but was cut to just 137 for its mainland version, according to the film’s directors.

The mainland edit of the latest James Bond movie Skyfall, which was released Monday, also had a significant number of scenes deleted.

“Although the mainland version is a bit constrained, [we] fully believe in the regulator’s editing standards,” said Cloud Atlas co-director Tom Tykwer, who was in Beijing on Tuesday to promote the movie ahead of its January 31 release.

Tykwer co-directed the film with Andy and Lana Wachowski.

The film’s mainland partner, Dreams of the Dragon Pictures, also acknowledged the cuts and said it was only following regulations of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (Sarft).

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