China censors Kate Winslet's breasts over fears Titanic 3D audiences will 'reach out for a touch'

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When film fans heard Titanic was to be brought to life in eye-popping 3D, they were thrilled by the promise of action so real you could almost touch it.

And that's precisely why government censors in China ruled one of the blockbuster's steamier scenes had to go.

The immortal sequence in which Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, paints Kate Winslet's character Rose in the nude has been butchered for Chinese audiences.

Racy: Censors said the scene in which Rose poses naked for a portrait would lead viewers to grope the air if included in the 3D version

An official at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said: 'Considering the vivid 3D effects, we fear that viewers may reach out their hands for a touch and thus interrupt other people’s viewing.

'To avoid potential conflicts between viewers and out of consideration of building a harmonious ethical social environment, we’ve decided to cut off the nudity scenes.'

With this bizarre explanation, a shot revealing Kate Winslet's breasts as she sprawls on a chaise longue was cut in favour of a head-and-shoulders close-up.

In the original scene Rose, who is engaged to another man, seduces artist Jack by asking him to paint the provocative portrait, and the doomed lovers begin a tragically short-lived affair.

Modest: This is as much as Chinese audiences were allowed to see after censors cut out shots below the neck

Cinemagoers took to the internet to express their dismay after watching the new version of James Cameron's 1997 disaster epic, which won 11 Oscars after its first release.

Offbeat China, a blog about the country's internet culture, quoted one commenter as saying: 'I waited 15 years to see 3D boobs, not 3D iceberg.'

The Chinese authorities maintain notoriously tight controls over foreign media entering the country.

But in this case the censors' cut has not stopped audiences flocking to rewatch the Hollywood romance.

Titanic 3D achieved the second-highest opening day takings ever seen in China, grossing £7.3m on Tuesday alone.

In the UK, meanwhile, it topped the weekly box office charts upon release, raking in £2.8million in ticket sales.

Revisited: Left, Kate Winslet arrives at London's Royal Albert Hall for the opening of Titanic 3D last month. Right, on screen with Leonardo DiCaprio in the 1997 historical romance, which won 11 Oscars


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2128856/China-censors-Kate-Winslets-breasts-fears-Titanic-3D-audiences-reach-touch.html#ixzz1ruXBO800