‘Eternals’ Actor Haaz Sleiman on Being Arab and Openly Gay in the MCU, the Film’s ‘Ignorant’ Ban in Middle Eastern Countries (EXCLUSIVE)

Rebecca Davis editorDisney’s “Jungle Cruise” didn’t manage to catch a swift current in its China debut, drifting to a slow $3.3 million first three-day weekend, according to data from the Artisan Gateway consultancy. The Maoyan data platform currently estimates it will gross a total of just $6.19 million.The adventure tale has clearly lost steam since its simultaneous release in U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWhen “Eternals,” the first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring a gay superhero, rolls out in the Arab world on Thursday, the Disney-distributed blockbuster will, unsurprisingly, skip releases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, mainly due to its LGBTQ+ content.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorAs Hollywood grapples with the accidental shooting death of “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, I had the chance to talk with “Squid Game” writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk about the safety precautions taken on the set of his intensely violent series. “We of course have a prop master, but also in Korea, we’re not really a gun-owning country, so only the police can have and own a gun,” he said.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorPenélope Cruz will be honored at the Museum of Modern Art’s 2021 Film Benefit.The event, presented by Chanel, will return as an in-person gala on Dec. 14 at the New York City museum.“Penélope Cruz has mesmerized cinema audiences since 1992 as an artist who is as compelling in action-adventures as she is in auteur-driven pictures,” Rajendra Roy, the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film at MoMA, said in a statement Tuesday.

The Red Sea International Film Festival has set the lineup for its inaugural edition which runs from December 6-15 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The roster includes 138 titles from 67 countries and will open with MGM’s Joe Wright-directed musical romance Cyrano. The film previously played Telluride and Rome among others and releases domestically on December 31. Closing the Red Sea Fest is the world premiere of Egyptian director Amr Salama’s Bara El Manhag.

Well dressed guests! The LACMA Art + Film Gala was held on Saturday, November 6, and there’s no question that everyone in attendance made sure to show up in style. 

Haaz Sleiman is speaking out after “Eternals” was banned from movie theatres in some Arab countries.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorGuillermo del Toro and Steven Spielberg formed their own two-person film club during the pandemic.“During the lockdown he encouraged me and I encouraged him, we found movies we had never seen before and we let each other know what they were,” Spielberg said. “So the lockdown was literally spent watching movies, getting on text and talking for hours about the film.

By comparison, fellow 2021 Marvel title “Black Widow” opened to $80 million in July after a $39.5 million Friday while “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” opened to $75.8 million in September after a $29.5 million Friday. “Shang-Chi” was able to blow past industry estimates thanks to a strong Sunday hold, leading into a Monday Labor Day performance that pushed the film to a holiday record $94.6 million 4-day opening.

Haaz Sleiman is opening up about Eternals.

By comparison, fellow 2021 Marvel title “Black Widow” opened to $80 million in July after a $39.5 million Friday while “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” opened to $75.8 million in September after a $29.5 million Friday. “Shang-Chi” was able to blow past industry estimates thanks to a strong Sunday hold, leading into a Monday Labor Day performance that pushed the film to a holiday record $94.6 million 4-day opening.

news.com.au in Australia, Jolie responded to reports of the Marvel film being quietly removed from screens in those Middle Eastern territories, including a report that Disney refused to cut scenes out of the film in order to appease local censors. “I’m sad for [those audiences].

Eternals will not be screening in certain territories.

The anticipated robust overseas box office of Disney/Marvel’s Eternals, which posted a first day of $7.6M, will definitely not have Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman in its future release plans.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentMarvel’s “Eternals,” which features the first MCU gay superhero, has been banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries ahead of its planned Nov. 11 rollout across the Gulf region.Sources have confirmed that despite the film being publicized across the region on the websites of local multiplex chains, such as top local exhibitor Vox Cinemas, “Eternals” won’t be playing in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Fatboy Slim, Honey Dijon, Maribou State and more.The Austrian festival will return to the slopes of Mayrhofen in April after a two-year enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic.Snowbombing organisers had already confirmed the likes of Bicep, Camelphat, Andy C, Rudimental, Gorgon City, Eats Everything and more for the bill.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorKumail Nanjiani did something most people would never think of — he turned down a party invitation from Angelina Jolie.And not just any party.Jolie hosted a Halloween bash while they were filming “Eternals” in the Canary Islands. “I did get an invite but I actually didn’t go because we were shooting on location and I finished a couple of days before them, and [my wife] Emily [V.