Wonder Woman banned in Lebanon over casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot

The Lebanese government has made the decision to scrap all screenings of the superhero film 
Banned: Lebanon has banned all screenings of Wonder Woman in the country
PA
Jennifer Ruby1 June 2017
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Screenings of Wonder Woman have been scrapped in Lebanon over the film’s casting of Israeli actress Gal Gadot.

The Lebanese government has made the decision to ban the new superhero film from all cinemas after discovering that the lead actress previously served in the Israeli Defence Force.

According to Variety, the ban was put in place just a few hours before the film’s Lebanese premiere in Beirut and nationwide release.

The official Twitter account of Lebanon’s Grand Cinemas chain confirmed the news on Wednesday night, writing: “#WonderWoman has been banned in #Lebanon.”

The Ministry of Economy and Trade, which has a policy of banning Israeli exports, made a formal request to ban the film.

Despite a cease fire agreement in 2006, the two nations are still officially at war and have no diplomatic relations.

Film distributor Tony Chacra of the company Joseph Chacra and Sons told Reuters that the decision was “very frustrating" as “the movie has nothing to do with Israel.”

Gadot has previously starred in Fast and the Furious and Batman vs Superman, neither of which were banned in the country.

Wonder Woman is already receiving rave reviews from critics, with many praising its refreshing take on the superhero genre.

Wonder Woman - In pictures

1/19

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in