As Wolf of Wall Street begins to open in theaters overseas, many countries are grappling with how to deal with the film’s controversial content. Martin Scorsese’s latest venture has raised eyebrows in the U.S. for its unabashed focus on greed, lashings of sex and nudity, and copious use of the F-word. Now, conservative foreign markets are curtailing the film.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film has been banned outright in Malaysia and Nepal, while India, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon have censored some scenes deemed offensive. In other markets, like Singapore, the movie has been given an ultra-restrictive rating and only opened in a handful of theaters.
“Some of the content in the film makes it difficult in certain territories where they have censorship and can even ban films,” said Christian Mercuri, president of international at Red Granite, the production and financing firm behind the movie. “It certainly concerns us that anyone is cutting our film, but every territory is different.”
Apparently the sequences that were cut in India and Lebanon included a scene with a gay orgy and a scene where co-star Jonah Hill masturbates in public. It’s not certain how many F-words remain.