Did the Middle East Postpone the Release of the Barbie Film?

Middle East Barbie fans may have to wait longer than the Barbie's global release date which has been set for Friday, July 21st.

The Barbie movie UAE release date is scheduled for Thursday, August 31. Only the VOX Cinemas website presently lists the release date, and other local theaters only state that bookings will "open soon."

The delay has surprised movie lovers, and some even believe the movie may be banned in the region. Prior to this, UAE and Saudi Arabia had banned films like Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Disney and Pixar's Lightyear for violating censorship guidelines. 

In Vietnam, the Barbie movie has already been banned, and the Philippines is already planning to do the same.

Fans are anxiously awaiting an official positive announcement as nothing other than the release date has been stated. A few of them shared their reaction to the news on Twitter:

THEY CANT BAN BARBIE IN THE MIDDLE EAST I ALREADY HAVE AN OUTFIT PLANNED FOR IT pic.twitter.com/ayTZVeBVwF

— sam ⁷ 🌻 (@victoriousdays) July 5, 2023

me wearing pink to oppenheimer because barbie is probably getting banned in the middle east pic.twitter.com/fVZyic0N4x

— jana 𓂆 (@j9naa) July 5, 2023

Barbie’s officially been delayed in the middle east until the end of August, happy barbenheimer month pic.twitter.com/jx1FYbGXgF

— fari (@D0RIANSCROCHAN) July 5, 2023