13 Mar – "Beauty and the Beast" will not be opening in Malaysia this Thursday, Disney has confirmed. "Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" opening date in Malaysia will be postponed due to an internal review of [the] release date". "We will inform you on a new date soon," said a rep from The Walt Disney Company (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. when contacted by Cinema Online today. Currently, the movie can still be seen listed on several exhibitors' websites, such as GSC Cinemas, TGV Cinemas and MBO Cinemas. However, the release date will soon be changed following updates from Disney Malaysia. The sudden revision of release date could be due to the complaints made by concerned parents following the revelation of a gay character in the upcoming movie, which may now be deemed unsuitable for impressionable young audiences. Villain Gaston's sidekick, LeFou, played by actor Josh Gad, supposedly has an "exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie" as director Bill Condon told Attitude magazine recently, causing some backlash as Russia threatened to censor or ban the movie, while a drive-in cinema in Alabama, U.S.A. said it won't be showing the movie.
The live-action adaptation starring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as Beast was originally scheduled for release in Malaysia on 16 March 2017.