‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ will not be screened in UAE

The National Media Council said the Ridley Scott-directed film about the prophet Moses had 'many mistakes in the script' and presented 'wrong information about Islam and other faiths too'.

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ABU DHABI // The Hollywood biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings will not be shown at cinemas in the UAE.

This follows a decision by the National Media Council, the authority responsible for approving films for release.

Juma Obeid Al Leem, the media content tracking director at the council, said: “We cannot show this film because there are many mistakes in the script. It is giving wrong information about Islam and other faiths too. We cannot allow such negligence.”

Mr Al Leem said the council had asked the film producers and distributors to edit out objectionable scenes for UAE viewing but they refused. He said his department had watched the film carefully and found many mistakes.

The move follows a similar decision to ban Ridley Scott's epic in Egypt and Morocco. The studio, 20th Century Fox, declined to give a reason for the decision in Egypt.

Staff from Vox Cinemas and Novo Cinemas confirmed this. A customer service representative at Vox said the decision was sent to staff in a memo from its head office on December 7. “No reasons were given but we were asked to remove all materials related to the movie such as posters and ads, including on our website.”

A staff member at Novo Cinemas in Abu Dhabi Mall confirmed they had also received a similar memo from film distributor Empire International on December 7.

newsdesk@thenational.ae