"Exodus: Gods And Kings" has officially been banned in Egypt, the film's ancient setting. With the nation's head of censorship raising several issues with the "historical inaccuracies" of the religious story, the film will not be released in the country. Appearing to face the same fate as this year's "Noah," "Exodus" will likely be banned across the Middle East due to the depiction of Moses in the film.
According to BBC, "The head of the censorship board said these included the film's depiction of Jews as having built the Pyramids, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Red Sea to part."
Egypt pulling the plug on the film's release follows another Muslim country's refusal to show the movie, pointing to a distinct trend that may very well continue to spread throughout the region. "There have also been reports that the film is banned in Morocco. Although the state-run Moroccan Cinema Centre (CCM) had given the film the green light, Moroccan business website Medias24.com said that officials had decided to ban the movie from being screened the day before its premiere," explained BBC News Middle East.
Earlier this year, censor boards in Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE banned Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" for similar reasons.
The film, inspired by the religious story of Noah's ark, "[came] under fire in the Middle East for contradicting Islamic law by portraying a prophet...Censorship boards in Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates informed Paramount they will not allow the release of the film. Similar rulings are expected in Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait, according to Paramount insiders," wrote the Hollywood Reporter.
These rulings to ban the film were backed by leading Sunni Muslim institute Al-Azhar, stressing that any such film is "contrary to faith and to the fundamentals of the Islamic Sharia [law]," adding that such movies antagonize the "feelings of the faithful," according to the Hollywood Reporter.
While Paramount expected the film to face some troubles in the Middle East, it is unclear whether 20th Century Fox planned for the giant blow.
The Hollywood Reporter adds, "In a gesture of goodwill toward religious groups, Paramount agreed last week to alter the marketing materials for Noah to make clear that it is a creative rather than a literal adaptation of the Bible story."
Will 20th Century Fox do the same with "Exodus" in order to thwart the widespread banning of the film? Only time will tell. And likely, there isn't much anyone can do to stop the censorship teams across the Muslim world from nixing the film's local release.
