Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie says she is proud of Marvel Studios for not making any changes to “Eternals” in a bid to acquire distribution certificates in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. 

Oscar winner Chloe Zhao’s directorial film “Eternals,” was scheduled to open in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Oman on November 11, but censors there had asked the Disney-owned company to remove same-sex intimate scenes between the characters of Phastos and Haaz Sleiman to clear the film for theatrical viewing.

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Jolie, who plays the immortal Thena in the film, expressed sadness for the audiences in countries where the film will not be released due to censorship issues.

“I’m sad for them. And I’m proud of Marvel for refusing to cut those scenes out. And I still don’t understand how we live in a world today where someone would not see the family that Phastos has, and the beauty of that relationship and that love… How anybody is angry about it, threatened by it, doesn’t approve or appreciate it is ignorant,” Jolie said in a Zoom roundtable interview.

“Eternals” centres on the titular group who has been living on earth for the past 7,000 years.

Created by cosmic beings called Celestials, the Eternals have been sent to earth to safeguard the planet from their evil counterparts Deviants.

Gemma Chan plays Sersi, Richard Madden plays Ikaris, Salma Hayek plays Ajak, Kumail Nanjiani plays Kingo, Don Lee plays Gilgamesh, Brian Tyree Henry plays Phastos, Lauren Ridloff plays Makkari, Lia McHugh plays Sprite, and Barry Keoghan plays Druig in the film. 

Zhao co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Matthew K Firpo. 

The director also mentioned speaking with Marvel Studios about not censoring any scenes in the film.

“I don’t know all the details, but I do believe discussions were had and there’s a big desire from Marvel and myself — we talked about this — to not change the cut of the movie. Fingers crossed,” Zhao told IndieWire.

“Eternals” released in India in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.