DUBAI: The Kuwait National Cinema Company has suspended showings of Disney’s hit movie “Beauty and the Beast,” citing responsibilities toward young viewers.
The movie was shown on Thursday but according to reports, people who bought tickets for the shows on Monday were alerted that the film would not be shown.
“Dear customers: The movie Beauty and the Beast has been suspended pending its review. We regret any inconvenience. We will refund your bookings,” the company said on its Twitter account on Monday.
The move follows upheaval over the movie in Malaysia due to allusions that a character in the film may be homosexual.
Malaysia’s censor board initially barred the movie from screening in the Muslim-majority country if Disney did not remove the three-second gay scene.
Disney refused to make the cut and local distributors asked the censor board to review the decision.
However, the decision was overturned.
“We are pleased to announce that Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ has now been approved to be released in Malaysia with no cuts, with a PG13 rating,” the company said in a statement this week. PG13 rating means parental guidance is advisable for children under 13 years.
Starring Emma Watson as young Belle who falls in love with the Beast, the film features a gay character for the first time in Disney’s history.
The character, LeFou, the sidekick to the film’s primary villain, Gaston, sparked calls among some ultra-conservative groups around the world for a boycott of the film.
(With Reuters)
‘Beauty and the Beast’ cinema showings suspended in Kuwait
‘Beauty and the Beast’ cinema showings suspended in Kuwait
Sotheby’s to bring coveted Rembrandt lion drawing to Diriyah
DUBAI: Later this month, Sotheby’s will bring to Saudi Arabia what it describes as the most important Rembrandt drawing to appear at auction in 50 years. Estimated at $15–20 million, “Young Lion Resting” comes to market from The Leiden Collection, one of the world’s most important private collections of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art.
The drawing will be on public view at Diriyah’s Bujairi Terrace from Jan. 24 to 25, alongside the full contents of “Origins II” — Sotheby’s forthcoming second auction in Saudi Arabia — ahead of its offering at Sotheby’s New York on Feb. 4, 2026. The entire proceeds from the sale will benefit Panthera, the world’s leading organization dedicated to the conservation of wild cats. The work is being sold by The Leiden Collection in partnership with its co-owner, philanthropist Jon Ayers, the chairman of the board of Panthera.
Established in 2006, Panthera was founded by the late wildlife biologist Dr. Alan Rabinowitz and Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan. The organization is actively engaged in the Middle East, where it is spearheading the reintroduction of the critically endangered Arabian leopard to AlUla, in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla.
“Young Lion Resting” is one of only six known Rembrandt drawings of lions and the only example remaining in private hands. Executed when Rembrandt was in his early to mid-thirties, the work captures the animal’s power and restless energy with striking immediacy, suggesting it was drawn from life. Long before Rembrandt sketched a lion in 17th-century Europe, lions roamed northwest Arabia, their presence still echoed in AlUla’s ancient rock carvings and the Lion Tombs of Dadan.
For Dr. Kaplan, the drawing holds personal significance as his first Rembrandt acquisition. From 2017 to 2024, he served as chairman of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage, of which Saudi Arabia is a founding member.
The Diriyah exhibition will also present, for the first time, the full range of works offered in “Origins II,” a 64-lot sale of modern and contemporary art, culminating in an open-air auction on Jan. 31 at 7.30 pm.
