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BAHRAIN, KUWAIT BAN FOXX'S 'KINGDOM': Countries don't appreciate film's political subject matter.
*Film audiences in Bahrain and Kuwait will have to do without Jamie Foxx's new film "The Kingdom" after authorities in the countries cited its terrorist theme in banning it from theaters.
The movie follows an elite FBI team that travels to Saudi Arabia to investigate a terror attack on a U.S. compound. According to Variety, the film will premiere as scheduled Thursday in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan without being edited.
"The Kingdom" was partly inspired by the 1996 Khobar Towers bombings in Saudi Arabia, in which an Islamic fundamentalist cell attacked a U.S. compound.
"It's a big release," Gulf Film head Salim Ramia told Variety. "There shouldn't be any controversy. The real question is, 'Did this happen in Saudi Arabia?' Of course it did. The film isn't against anyone. It's a good movie."
While the Saudi kingdom has banned movies for the past 30 years, its residents often travel a short distance to Bahrain to see films. There had been concern in Saudi circles in the run-up to the release of "The Kingdom" given its focus on the internal threat of Islamic fundamentalists. However, there was no confirmation on whether Bahrain's Information Ministry had received any pressure from their Saudi counterparts to block the film.
