Much to fans’ dismay, it was announced yesterday that the release of the live-action movie Beauty and the Beast in Malaysia, which was slated for March 16, was to be postponed until further notice for an “internal review”.
Although it wasn’t mentioned specifically, we suspected that the issue lies within the controversy surrounding the film after director Bill Condon revealed that a character, Le Fou, would be having a “nice exclusively gay moment” in the movie.
The latest update as of March 14 however seems promising! The Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF) has finally given the green light for Beauty and the Beast to be shown in Malaysian cinemas, but it would come with a minor edit.
True enough, LPF chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid unveiled the minor cut that is to be made concerns the “gay moment”. It was considered a sensitive matter.
Albeit its approval, the date of the screening has not yet been confirmed and will be up to the film’s distributor and cinemas’ discretions.
At least all hope is not lost! Belle and Beast, we’re still coming for you after all..
[UPDATE] 14 March 2017, 7pm
Despite the approval from the Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF), Disney has postponed the release of Beauty and the Beast in Malaysia indefinitely after LPF announced that the “gay moment” in the movie would be cut out.
There’s so much hoo-ha surrounding its release, although several critics have mentioned that the homosexual reference is extremely mild and fleeting.
According to theatre chain Golden Screen Cinemas, the film has been “postponed by Disney until further notice”. The Walt Disney company in Singapore was also not able to confirm or say when the film would be released.
Stay tuned as we await updates..
