Malaysians fell in love with Constance Wu when she played Henry Golding’s love interest in Crazy Rich Asians, the movie that paved the way for Asian culture-themed blockbusters in Hollywood.
And we couldn’t wait when we found out she was going to play a foul-mouthed stripper in Jennifer Lopez’s latest hit movie, Hustlers!
Well, it turns out we may not get to see that movie at all, not at least until it comes out online that is. Why?
Because Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board has officially banned the movie from playing on the silver screen here due to its ‘excessive obscenity’, making it unsuitable for Malaysian viewers. Apparently, they would have had to make so many cuts to the racy scenes in the movie that there wouldn’t really be much left to show.
Hustlers champions a star-studded, female-empowered cast, and was dubbed the female Wolf of Wall Street. It follows a group of New York strippers who gave wealthy businessmen a taste of their own medicine during the 2008 financial crisis.
The movie, which was based on a real story, showcases the women resorting to less than legal methods like spiking men’s drinks in order to empty out their bank accounts as the stock market crashed down around them and nearly took the exotic dancing industry down with it.
“This film contains too many scenes with too much excessive obscene content and is not suitable for public screening,” the Malaysian Cencorship Board’s chairman Mohammad Zamberi said, as according to New Straits Times.
“We can see women’s breasts and men’s private parts. There are also erotic dances which are too much and scenes with drugs,” he added.
Hustler’s distributor in Malaysia, Square Box Pictures have since released a statement on their Instagram page announcing the unfortunate banning of the movie.
“OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT. We regret to inform you that the Hustlers movie release has been cancelled as it has been banned in Malaysia. We deeply apologise for the inconvenience caused to our beloved followers, fans of the movie, media, and partners,” they wrote.
The ban does not come as a surprise but more as a disappointment, considering earlier this year we saw major censors of gay sex scenes and other homosexual-oriented scenes from the movies ‘Rocketman’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Pirate ship party, anyone?
Also read: Report: Shops in Malaysia Still Selling Imported Pork Products Banned for African Swine Fever