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It Ends with Us, the new screen adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling romance novel, has been prohibited from releasing in theaters in Qatar.
Directed by and starring Justin Baldoni opposite Blake Lively, the movie features several kissing scenes and one non-graphic sex scene, which shows the characters in their underwear.
It’s due to the sexual nature of these scenes that the country’s censorship committee has blocked the PG-13 movie from coming out in theaters, sources told Variety.
The conservative Middle Eastern country has very strict censorship rules, especially when it comes to media.
It Ends with Us joins Qatar’s long list of banned American films. Other recent PG-13 titles that have been blocked from the country include Greta Gerwig’s feminist comedy Barbie, the animated superhero movie Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Netflix’s R-rated comedy, No Hard Feelings, was also banned in Qatar for featuring a nude scene. Qatar was also among several countries to ban the latest Toy Story spin-off, Lightyear, for its inclusion of a same-sex kiss.
Disney previously refused to comply with Qatar’s requests to cut the transgender character Anybodys (played by non-binary actor Iris Menas) from Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake. The musical movie was ultimately banned in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait.
Out in theaters now, It Ends with Us follows Lively’s character Lily Bloom, who’s recently moved to Boston to fulfill her lifelong dream of opening a flower shop. There, she meets a charismatic neurosurgeon, Ryle (Baldoni), with whom she falls madly in love. However, after the two begin a whirlwind romance, Lily’s former first love (Brandon Sklenar) re-enters her life, forcing her to make an impossible choice.
Following the film’s New York premiere earlier this week, rumors appeared online suggesting that Baldoni had been shunned by Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, over creative differences.
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The photos from the premiere’s red carpet were analyzed by social media users, who noted that Baldoni and Lively were not photographed together despite both being in attendance. It was also discovered that Baldoni was following Lively, Reynolds and Hoover on Instagram, but none of them were following him back.
Baldoni has remained complimentary about his co-star amid the speculation of an on-set feud.
“I think she’s best known as an actress, and, of course, she’s a fashion icon, but she is so much more than that,” he said of the 36-year-old Gossip Girl alum. “She is a dynamic creative. She had her hands in every part of this production, and everything she touched made better.”
