Exodus: Gods and Kings banned in the UAE over 'religious inaccuracies'

The decision follows bans in Egypt and Morocco

Neela Debnath
Sunday 28 December 2014 12:52 GMT
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Man of action: Christian Bale stars in Exodus: Gods and Kings
Man of action: Christian Bale stars in Exodus: Gods and Kings

The United Arab Emirates has become the latest nation to ban Ridley Scott’s epic blockbuster Exodus: Gods and Kings.

The film, which stars Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton and Sir Ben Kingsley, is based on the Bible’s Book of Exodus and follows the story of the prophet Moses rising up again the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses.

Earlier this week it was banned in Egypt and Morocco. The epic was censored in Egypt for “historical inaccuracies”, in particular suggesting that Jews built the pyramids and that an earthquake parted the Red Sea rather than being a divine miracle.

Morocco halted screenings the day before the film was due to premiere because the film contained a “representation of God”, which is forbidden under Islamic law.

The UAE’s decision comes after the country's National Media Council deemed that the film contained religious inaccuracies.

“This movie is under our review and we found that there are many mistakes not only about Islam but other religions too. So, we will not release it in the UAE,” Juma Obeid Al Leem, the director of Media Content Tracking at the National Media Council told Gulf News.

However, Obeid Al Leem did not go into detail about the objectionable scenes.

Exodus: Gods and Kings is not the first film to fall foul of the censors on religious grounds. Both Noah and The Da Vinci Code were not released in some countries due to objections.

Ridley Scott’s epic has already been the subject of much controversy after the director defended the film’s lack of diversity among the cast last month. Scott said that impossible to finance films if his lead actor was an unknown called "Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such".

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