Chinese censors cut Michael Fassbender's gay kiss From 'Alien: Covenant'

Chinese movie fans have grown accustomed to Beijing censors cutting significant amounts of footage from R-rated Hollywood films.

Earlier this year, censors lopped off 14 minutes from Logan and eight minutes from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. In those cases, the offending material was the movies' most graphic violence and gore, accoding to the Hollywood Reporter.

That same rationale was behind most of the six minutes cut from Alien: Covenant, released in China on Friday. But in that pic's case, more than just bloodshed is missing from the Chinese release — Michael Fassbender's much-touted gay kiss (with himself) has also been removed.

China-based expats and local moviegoers were quick to pick up on the missing Doppelganger gay moment, which takes place late in the film between the two cyborgs Walter and David, both played by Fassbender. Many said the removal of the gay kiss is much more jarring than the various cuts to the film's violence, too.

"For the other missing parts, you don't notice or know when it happens, but you can really feel something is missing where the gay kiss is supposed to be," says Yu (who asked only to be identified by her last name), a 26-year-old assistant at an advertising agency in Shanghai who saw the movie Saturday night with friends. Yu said she had read about the missing kiss in local media reports and was waiting to see if she could guess where it was supposed to be.