Barbie’s Ban In Saudi Arabia Postpones Middle Eastern Release

Barbie, an American film directed by Greta Gerwig, is facing unexpected challenges in the Middle East region, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Barbie is facing censorship headaches in the Middle East. Vox Cinemas – which is Warner Bros.’ local distribution partner – has delayed its release to August 31.

According to reports, Warner Bros. has been trying to do censorship changes over purported LGBTQ-related narration and language in “Barbie.” According to a knowledgeable source, Warner Bros. has to address various concerns raised by censors regarding LGBTQ-related content in the film.

The film was originally scheduled for a July 19 release in the Middle East region. The region’s top market, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Egypt, have expressed concern over the LGBTQ-related content.

According to a report by Variety, Warner Bros. might not comply with the requested edits by the censors. It is likely, though not certain, that the “Barbie” movie will not be released in the Middle East region.

Reportedly, Saudi film and entertainment platform Movsto announced on Twitter on Sunday that “Barbie” movie will not be shown in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain.
LGBTQ actors like Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Alexandra Shipp and Scott Evans are part of the film. However, Barbie does not explicitly contain queer content.

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Margot Robbie, the lead actress of Barbie, said in an interview with British LGBTQ magazine Attitud that the Barbie dolls don’t “have sexual orientations” in the movie.

The movie also faced backlash in Vietnam over featuring images of China’s illegal nine-dash.
Barbie has already achieved blockbuster status across the world. It has made the $700 million mark at the box office. The film also became the highest-grossing film of Ryan Gosling’s entire career. Experts predict that the movie will likely cross $1 billion during its run.