PETALING JAYA: The Walt Disney Company says it will not allow any cuts to Beauty and the Beast, which was scheduled to open in Malaysia on Thursday.
According to a Bloomberg news report, the company will not allow the film to be screened with edits.
"The film has not been and will not be cut for Malaysia," Disney said in an emailed statement to the news outlet.
The Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF) said on Tuesday that it had given the green light for Beauty and the Beast to be shown in Malaysian cinemas with a minor edit.
"The film has been approved with a P13 parental guidance classification, with a minor cut," LPF chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid told The Star on Monday.
The rating means that parental guidance is advisable for children below 13 years old.
The minor cut concerned a "gay moment" in the film, said Abdul Halim.
He added that after the announcement of the scene by the film's director, the LPF had to take note as it concerned a "sensitive" topic.
The movie was scheduled to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on March 16.
Malaysian representatives of Disney told The Star later Tuesday that the release date had merely been postponed and that it had not pulled the movie, as reported by some foreign media.
"Our stand remains that the movie release is postponed. (The) release date is undergoing internal review," the representative said.
Beauty and the Beast courted controversy recently after its director Bill Condon said that the character of Le Fou, played by Josh Gad, would have a "nice exclusively gay moment" in the movie.
Starring Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston.
Beauty and the Beast is a live-action remake of Disney's classic animated feature, which became the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1991.
Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) and TGV Cinemas are offering refunds for customers who bought Beauty and the Beast tickets following the announcement that the movie's local release date has been postponed indefinitely
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/03/15/beauty-and-the-beast-cuts/#cKmxZtshGQLVAkHK.99
