Fans enraged release of "Hustlers" is cancelled Malaysia
20 Sep – Despite the star-studded lineup of "Hustlers", the movie's subject proves to be too hot to handle for Malaysians (as far as the censorship board is concerned) and thus its release in local cinemas has been cancelled.
The cancellation was announced on the release day itself, sparking outrage among fans who have been excited to watch the Jennifer Lopez-starrer.
Fans could be seen leaving comments of varying reactions on the Facebook page of local distributor TGV Pictures, under the post that stated, "Sorry guys, #HUSTLERS is not sanctioned to release in Malaysia."
Some are visibly more upset than others, directing their anger towards the Film Censorship Board (LPF) for the last-minute cancellation.
Others seem more flippant about it, simply commenting "typical" (not the first time a movie with sexual content is banned in Malaysia) and "Knew it from looking at the trailers". Some even joked that if the distributor didn't reveal the movie's true nature by previously posting sexy stills from the movie, it might have made it to the big screen after all.
Starring Lopez as veteran stripper Ramona Vega, others who star alongside her include Constance Wu ("Crazy Rich Asians"), Julia Stiles ("10 Things I Hate About You"), Lili Reinhart ("The Good Neighbor"), Mercedes Ruehl ("Zeyda and the Hitman"), Lizzo ("UglyDolls"), Keke Palmer ("Pimp"), and rapper Cardi B.
Lopez's Vega mentors Wu's Destiny, a single mother who starts stripping to provide for her family, and the two eventually team up to steal from their strip club's wealthy clients.
The movie has been receiving rave reviews since its release in the US last weekend. Malaysian audience was supposed to have been able to watch it in cinemas starting from 19 September 2019, that is before it was pulled from the release schedule yesterday at the very last minute.
