China censors ending of ‘Minions,’ changing Gru from evil to good

Audiences in China for the “Despicable Me” prequel, “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” were in for a surprise after the ending was altered to have Gru, the main villain of the Illumination franchise, turned from an evil man to a good dude.

The Chinese version of the animated film has an array of post-credit scenes in which a variety of subtitles say Gru “eventually became one of the good guys” who was “dedicated to raising his family.”

In the United States, viewers find out how Gru tricked the police and learned to defeat his enemies to become the ultimate villain.

Since “Minions” takes place before the “Despicable Me” series, Gru is not supposed to be the hero.

Other post-credit scenes also feature the cops arresting Gru’s mentor, Wild Knuckles.

In the Chinese adaptation, though, the police are not deceived and instead apprehend Knuckles, who is later jailed for two decades for his crimes. While Knuckles is in prison, he finds a new passion for singing and dancing.

Chinese audiences took to Weibo, the country’s version of Twitter, to express frustration over the ending change, according to Daily Mail.

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” was the highest animation opening at the Chinese box office since the pandemic began, Deadline reported.

It’s not the first time China has altered the ending of a film for government censorship.

Last year, the country raised eyebrows for having edited the ending of the 1999’s “Fight Club.” Instead of stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton successfully carrying out “Project Mayhem” and bombing Los Angeles, the conclusion is swapped out for a paragraph stating that authorities saved the day.

Earlier this year, “Spiderman: No Way Home” and its parent company Sony were hit with a request from the Chinese government, demanding the Statue Of Liberty be deleted from the movie’s ending. Sony rejected the request.

This isn’t the first time “Minions: The Rise of Gru” has weathered controversy. In June when the film premiered in theaters, the “Gentleminions” trend took over TikTok, with teens dressing up in suits and carrying bananas — a reference to the Minion’s favorite food — in theaters. However, movie theaters said the trend caused much disruption, accusing teens of creating chaos during the movie by making noise and throwing things.