Initially scheduled to premiere on July 19, the release date of Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ in Egypt’s VOX Cinemas has sadly been delayed to August 31. The well-promoted movie was supposed to be shown on the big screen two days before the original release date worldwide, but that changed to the dismay of the film’s fans.
The decision to postpone the release date came following an identical delay in UAE, announced earlier this month by Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim Entertainment, which owns and operates VOX Cinemas.
As expected, fans were disappointed, especially those who planned to participate in the global ‘Barbenheimer’ trend by seeing “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller “Oppenheimer” back-to-back, as they initially had the exact same release dates.
According to “Egyptian Streets”, Movie Web suggests it may have been to give Christopher McQuarrie’s “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning — Part One”, starring Tom Cruise, more time in IMAX theaters. However, no official reason was provided for the delay.
Another theory speculates that the movie may not be compatible with the ethical values of the UAE, similar to ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ which was ultimately banned from screening in several countries for failing to pass censorship requirements.
Despite the delay by VOX Cinemas, United Motion Pictures, the distributor of Warner Bros. movies in Egypt, has yet to confirm if the decision will be carried out by all Egyptian cinemas.
