Philippine premiere of “Noah” delayed due to distribution dispute

Photo: Facebook Page of “Noah” Movie

The biblical film “Noah” would have premiered in the Philippines last April 2, if not for distribution dispute.

On March 7, a temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued by the Makati Regional Trial Court after Solar Entertainment Corporation filed an injunction case against United International Pictures (UIP).

Based on reports, Solar filed the case after UIP appointed Columbia Pictures as its new film distributor in the Philippines.

In its official statement, Solar said the TRO prevents “UIP from violating its existing distribution agreement with us, thereby maintaining the status of our Company as the exclusive local distributor of UIP films”.

As reported in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the TRO would also prevent UIP from: “a. entering into any film distribution agreement with any other entity within the Philippines, or, if any such agreement has already been executed, from executing the provisions thereof; and b. engaging in mass media activities, specifically, distributing, marketing, promoting and showing of UIP films within the Philippines, which could violate the 2012 Agreement between UIP and our Company.”

As a result of the TRO, “Noah,” along with other films produced by both Paramount and Universal Pictures would not be shown in the Philippines, until after the case has been fully resolved.

Paramount’s “Hercules”, “Transformers: Age of Extinction” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” as well as Universal’s “Neighbors”, “Lucy” and “A Million Ways to Die in the West” are among other films which would not be shown in Philippine cinemas due to distribution dispute.

“Noah,” which stars Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman and Anthony Hopkins, has already been banned in Indonesia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.

Islamic and Christian groups in the above mentioned countries condemned Crowe’s visual depiction of the revered biblical figure, as the latter’s character was shown violating the Islamic law.