Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” will not be heading to cinemas across much of the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the UAE.
No official reason has been made public, but the situation is believed to be related to the tomboy character Anybodys who is now canonically transgender in this version.
In Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the film was not granted a release certificate. In the others, Disney refused to comply with those country’s censorship requirements.
The new “West Side Story” holds a 95% Fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and is set to open in the U.S. from this Friday.
The news comes as Spielberg’s next film, the coming-of-age drama “The Fablemans” loosely based on his own childhood, has set a November 23rd 2022 U.S. release date.
Universal Pictures and Amblin will distribute the semi-autobiographical feature which stars Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Paul Dano, Julia Butters and Gabriel LaBelle.
Source: Deadline
