Malaysia is an Islamic country and it is expected that they would either censor or ban some Hollywood movies. The recent Hollywood film to be banned in the conservative country is the Jennifer Lopez-starrer movie Hustlers.

The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia feels that the recommended cuts to be made in the movie are innumerable and it would leave no meaningful content behind. Hence people may not be able to see it in the cinema halls of Malaysia.

Malaysia and its ban on Hustlers

The crime drama picture called Hustlers which stars Jennifer Lopez has been banned in Malaysia. Square Box Pictures was the distributor of the movie in the country. And no, it has put up a statement of the ban on its Instagram which read:

“We regret to inform you that Hustlers movie release has been cancelled as it has been banned in Malaysia.”

BBC states that the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia has labeled the movie as not suitable for public watching. The Board said that the movie has a lot of obscene scenes in it which include nakedness, erotic dancing, and also a display of drug use.

One of the Board’s representatives told a reporter that no significant content would be left in the movie after it does the suggested cuts by the Board. The chairman of the Board, Mohamad Zamberi Abdul Aziz said to AFP:

“This film contains too many scenes with too much excessive obscene content, and is not suitable for public screening,”

Additionally, he added:

“We can see women’s breasts and mens’ private parts. There are also erotic dances which are too much, and scenes (with drugs).”

STX has not provided any comments on this ban of its title.

About the movie Hustlers

The film is made on an article that was published in New York magazine in 2015. It is a crime thriller and drama. Additionally, it is the story of a band of strippers from the Great Recession-era New York City.

The drug and later fleece their Wall Street clientele. And Lorene Scafaria is the writer and director of this film. In the lead roles are Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez. Besides these, the other film actors/actresses are Keke Palmer, Cardi B, Lizzo, and also Lili Reinhardt.

But, Hustlers debuted at TIFF and got great reviews for it. Its opening weekend in North America earned the film over $33.1 million which is an impressive amount for the first week.

The other recent movies banned by the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia

The Malaysian Film Censorship Board has also banned Rocketman which was a film biopic on Elton John. The reason for this ban was the depiction of gay sex in the film! In 2017, there was some disagreement as regards the film by Disney Studio called Beauty and the Beast. The Board wanted the film producers to cut a gay moment in the film. But the Studio refused to do any such editing on the film.

There was some delay in the release but ultimately the Board allowed its release in Malaysia and the Malaysians to watch the movie in cinema houses. Other films which could not see the day in Malaysia included Wolf of Wall Street, Bruno, and Fifty Shades of Grey.

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Source: Hollywood Reporter