Wicked has been taken off the cinema listings in the country of Kuwait just one day before the musical adaptation was set to release in its theaters on Thursday, December 5. Last year, Barbie was notably banned from Kuwait cinemas in order to protect 'public ethics and social traditions.
If this is the case for Wicked, it would be a bizarre move since there is no storyline involving overt homosexuality - although Ariana Grande recently said she thought her character was a 'little in the closet. Some fans of the musical have said that Elphaba and Glinda's relationship carries heavy homoerotic undertones, but they are not considered to be explicitly queer characters.
The musical fantasy - which also stars Ethan Slater and Jeff Goldblum - premiered last week in the U. Wicked has been taken off the cinema listings in the country of Kuwait just one day before the musical adaptation was set to release in its theaters on Thursday, December 5; Grande and Erivo seen in November in L. Other records that the project broke since its release only one week earlier include it becoming the highest-grossing film ever that is based on a Broadway musical at the domestic box office.
It also had the largest first day opening for a film based on a Broadway musical and also had the second biggest domestic opening for a musical film in the month of November. The soundtrack to Wicked landed the number two spot on the Billboard chart - and became the highest first week ranking for a musical adaptation. Despite the movie's success thus far and critical acclaim , Kuwait made the decision to take down the film from cinema listings - the same move made with Greta Gerwig's Barbie in August Minister Mohammad Mortada said at the time said the film was found to 'promote homosexuality and sexual transformation' and 'contradicts values of faith and morality' by diminishing the importance of the family unit.
Based on Mortada's move, Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi had in turn asked General Security's censorship committee, which falls under the interior ministry and is traditionally responsible for censorship decisions, to review the film and give its recommendation.
