Angelina Jolie calls Eternals ban in multiple Gulf nations 'ignorant'

Angelina Jolie.
(Image credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Angela Jolie said it's "sad" that her new Marvel movie, Eternals, won't be released in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, after Disney denied edit requests from local censors.

On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety revealed that the movie was pulled from release in the Gulf nations, as they likely wanted to cut out scenes featuring a same-sex couple, Phastos and Ben. Jolie later told a reporter from Australia's news.com.au that she's "proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out," but it's "sad" that audiences in those countries won't be able to see the film.

"I still don't understand how we live in a world today where there's still [people who] would not see the family Phastos has and the beauty of that relationship and that love," Jolie said. "How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn't approve or appreciate it is ignorant."

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Earlier this year, Eternals director Chloé Zhao told IndieWire discussions had taken place about removing scenes for certain markets, adding, "there's a big desire for Marvel and myself — we talked about this — to not change the cut of the movie."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.