Wicked is facing censorship in Kuwait for its inclusion of an “LGBTQ+ cast”, local media have speculated.
The film adaptation of the smash-hit Wizard of Oz spin-off features an unlikely friendship blossoming between The Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) and Glinda the Good Witch (Ariana Grande) smashed box-office records for the opening of a Broadway film adaptation.
According to a Wednesday (4 December) report from Variety, the film by director Jon M. Chu has been removed from cinema listings in the Middle Eastern country just days before it was meant to be released on Thursday (5 December).
Officials in Kuwait have yet to announce why the film was removed from cinemas, but local media have speculated that it is due to the unapologetic inclusion of its LGBTQ+ cast, as well as an unspecified LGBTQ+ character in the film.
Erivo, who plays the film’s starring role of Elphaba, identifies as queer, while co-stars Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode and Bronwyn James are also part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Despite the censorship it is currently facing, Wicked has set a new box office record for the opening of a Broadway film adaptation. It took more than $164 million (£130 million) at the worldwide box office.
The previous record was held by Les Miserables, which banked $103 million (approximately £66 million at the time) in 2012.
Wicked banked $114 million (£90.6 million) in North America, playing on 3,888 screens over its opening weekend, plus $50.2 (£39.7 million) at the international box office.
In the UK and Ireland, Wicked earned about $17 million (£13.5 million), making it the top-grossing opening weekend of the year so far.
Last year, Kuwait was responsible for banning the Barbie movie after accusing the film of “promulgating ideas and beliefs that are alien to the Kuwaiti society and public order”, the under-secretary of the Ministry for Press and Publication, Lafy Al-Subei, explained at the time.
While Barbie certainly included several LGBTQ+ references and queer-coded characters, there were no explicit LGBTQ+ roles or themes in the movie.
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