West Side Story's release banned in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait?

Steven Spielberg's new directorial West Side Story, an adaptation of the Broadway musical of the same name, has reportedly been banned in six gulf countries.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait have all decided to shelve the film's release. Variety reports that while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait refused to grant a release certificate, in other countries Disney did not want to comply with the censorship mandates.

The outlet writes that West Side Story does not have any such objectionable content, but it does contain references to sexuality, LGTBQ+ characters, and curse words that are not acceptable in media available in the Middle East. 

Besides the Middle East, even China has strict censorship laws on the portrayal of LGBTQ persons on screen. Only recently, Marvel's Eternals was pulled from cinemas for featuring a same-sex couple played by Brian Tyree Henry and Haaz Sleiman.

West Side Story will have its release in other territories on December 10. The film is a tale of young love and rivalries in New York City. Spielberg has written the screenplay with Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner.

The cast includes Ansel Elgort (Tony), Rachel Zegler (María), Ariana DeBose (Anita), David Alvarez (Bernardo), Brian d’Arcy James (Officer Krupke), Rita Moreno ( Valentina), Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino), Ana Isabelle (Rosalía), Mike Faist (Riff) and Corey Stoll (Lieutenant Schrank).