‘Barbie’ banned in Algeria three weeks after it’s local release

In an unexpected development, Barbie has faced a ban in Algeria during its third week of exhibition in the country, as reported by Reuters.

An undisclosed official source communicated to the news outlet that the decision to ban the film was influenced by concerns that it "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances." Additionally, the source mentioned that the movie's content "does not comply with Algeria’s religious and cultural beliefs."

The initial report came to light through local source 24H Algerie on Monday, detailing that Algeria's Ministry of Culture and Arts had issued a directive to theaters, urging them to promptly withdraw the film Barbie from their screening schedules. The reason cited by 24H Algerie for the ban was the film's perceived influence on "damaging morals."

In a similar vein, both Lebanon and Kuwait have recently taken steps to prohibit the fantasy comedy, featuring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. Lebanon's culture minister, Mohammad Mortada, declared last week that the Warner Bros. production was deemed to "promote homosexuality and sexual transformation" and was in conflict with prevailing values of faith and morality.

"The film goes against moral and religious values in Lebanon, as it encourages perversity and gender transformation while calling for the rejection of patriarchy and ridiculizing the role of mothers," Mortada said.

He then asked the country’s censorship committee to review the film and provide a recommendation. As of Aug. 9, Kuwait had already banned the film.

Despite earlier indications of potential bans in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Barbie managed to secure a release in both countries last Thursday. 

Surpassing expectations, the film's opening weekend proved highly successful, generating $1.9 million in box office revenue in each of the two nations.