Disney’s Death on the Nile was banned from theaters in Lebanon and Kuwait because star Gal Gadot served in the Israeli army in the past, according to Deadline.
Death on the Nile (Vietnamese title Murder on the Nile) has Gal Gadot joining the cast of Kenneth Branagh (and film director), Annette Bening, Emma McKay, Tom Bateman…
Both Lebanon and Kuwait banned the screening of Disney’s detective film due to objections to the fact that Gal Gadot served in the Israeli army for 2 years. Blockbuster star Wonder Woman Gal Gadot (36 years old) was born in Israel, served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before becoming a model and actress, as all citizens are required to comply with the Military Service Law. .
Israel and Lebanon are at war over technology. This Arab country has laws banning products originating from Israel.
This is not the first time a movie starring Gal Gadot has been banned. Lebanon previously banned Wonder Woman from theaters in 2017, as well as its sequel Wonder Woman 1984.
Death on the Nile sees Kenneth Branagh reprise his role as detective Hercule Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express. The film faced controversy: actor Armie Hammer (playing Simon Doyle) was accused of sexual assault before the film was filmed.
Armie Hammer is currently facing charges of raping a woman (known as Effie). She accused Hammer of “violently raping” her for 4 hours in Los Angeles (USA) in 2017, “smashing her head against the wall” and “beating her legs with a wooden stick”.
In a previous statement shared with People, Hammer’s lawyer denied the rape allegations, saying that the encounter between Hammer and Effie was “completely consensual, discussed, agreed upon in advance, with the participation of both sides.”
After a March 2021 press conference organized by Effie, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that Hammer was being investigated for sexual assault in a case investigated in February 2021.
Death on the Nile is a mysterious detective film directed by Kenneth Branagh from a script by Michael Green, based on the novel of the same name released in 1937 by British writer Agatha Christie. The film was produced by Branagh, Ridley Scott, Judy Hofflund and Kevin J.Walsh, and is a sequel to Murder on the Orient Express (2017) starring Branagh as Hercule Poirot. The film is the third adaptation of Christie’s novel of the same name, following the 1978 film and an episode of the television series Agatha Christie’s Poirot broadcast in 2004.
Filming began in September 2019 at Longcross Studios in England and Morocco, and was completed in December 2019. Death on the Nile was first released in France and Korea, released internationally (including Vietnam) on February 9, 2022, then released in theaters in the UK and US on February 11, 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Gal Gadot plays Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle, Simon Doyle’s wife in Death on the Nile. The media in her home country dubbed her “the biggest Israeli superstar.” Gal Gadot was voted by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people globally in 2018 and twice entered the annual rankings of the world’s highest-paid actresses.
