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North Caucasus cinemas cancel 'Fifty Shades of Grey' release under public pressure

The movie will not be shown in Russia's North Ossetia, Chechnya and Ingushetia republics as it contradicts the mentality and religious beliefs of the majority of population

Scene from the movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Universal Pictures International press service

Scene from the movie 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

© Universal Pictures International press service

VLADIKAVKAZ, February 11. /TASS/. The highly-anticipated erotic film "Fifty Shades of Grey" will not be released in Vladikavkaz, capital of the Russian republic of North Ossetia, a spokesman for a local movie theater said on Wednesday, adding that city cinemas face hundreds of thousands of rubles in fines for the film's cancellation.

North Ossetian Muslim clerics and activists had called for the movie's ban, a local mufti saying "the film would not be shown in any other republic in the North Caucasus". The production has already been banned in the neighbouring republics of Chechnya and Ingushetia.

"This film will not be shown in our movie theaters as it contradicts the mentality and religious beliefs of the majority of the republic's population," a spokesperson for Chechnya's largest cinema network told TASS on Tuesday.

"Fifty Shades of Grey", based on a controversial best-selling novel, will be released in Russia on February 12. The film has been banned in Malaysia, a predominatnly Muslim country, as unfit for the local audience.

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