--- title: Sony Changed New Movie Pixels to Avoid Chinese Censors, Emails Show description: Executives made changes to assure a good reception, according to leaked emails canonical: https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/ author: Victor Luckerson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-24T15:44:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:33:55.892Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Sony Tweaked 'Pixels' to Avoid Embarrassing China og:description: Adam Sandler movie originally featured aliens firing at Great Wall of China og:url: https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt003739a2d4c5c1e7/69885c562dce01de3e9e4c64/pixels1.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: pixels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sony Tweaked 'Pixels' to Avoid Embarrassing China twitter:description: Adam Sandler movie originally featured aliens firing at Great Wall of China twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt003739a2d4c5c1e7/69885c562dce01de3e9e4c64/pixels1.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sony Tweaked Adam Sandler Movie _Pixels_ to Avoid Embarrassing China > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jul 24, 2015 3:44 PM UTC  by [Victor Luckerson](https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Jul 24, 2015 3:44 PM UTC Sony [altered a scene](http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-film/?utm%5Fsource=twitter/) in its newly released film _Pixels_ in order to avoid running afoul of censors in China, now the second-largest film market after the United States. _Reuters_ reports, citing emails leaked by Sony hackers, that a scene in the original _Pixels_ script featuring aliens shooting a hole in the Great Wall of China was scrapped because it would “not benefit the China release at all,” according to a Sony executive. Other changes included removing a mention of China as the potential perpetrator of an attack during the movie and a reference to a cyberattack by a “Communist-conspiracy brother.” Emails sent in 2013 also showed that a Sony executive wanted to alter the plot of the studio’s action film _RoboCop_ by locating a weapon company in the movie in Southeast Asia rather than China. That change didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. Movie censorship guidelines in China ban content that disparages the government, endangers national unity or harms public morale. Studios in the past have been known to change their movies specifically to appeal to Chinese audiences. Marvel, for instance, lengthened a scene in _Iron Man 3_ featuring a Chinese doctor specifically for the Chinese release. In a statement to _Reuters_, Sony said that creating content that has wide global appeal but doesn’t compromise creative integrity is a top priority as it develops films. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-film/?utm%5Fsource=twitter/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/"},"headline":"Sony Tweaked Adam Sandler Movie Pixels to Avoid Embarrassing China","datePublished":"2015-07-24T15:44:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:33:55.892Z","description":"Executives made changes to assure a good reception, according to leaked emails","url":"https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/","keywords":["movies","China","Sony","Censorship"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt003739a2d4c5c1e7/69885c562dce01de3e9e4c64/pixels1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Victor Luckerson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/victor-luckerson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt003739a2d4c5c1e7/69885c562dce01de3e9e4c64/pixels1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pixels","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3971251/pixels-adam-sandler-sony-edit/","name":"Sony Tweaked Adam Sandler Movie Pixels to Avoid Embarrassing China"}}]}] ```