Waiting for the word on 'Wolf'

PETALING JAYA: The fate of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street in Malaysia is yet to be determined.

It was reported in “The Hollywood Reporter” website that the film was banned in local cinemas.

A spokesman for the film’s distributor in Malaysia, TGV Pictures, however, implied that this report was not accurate.

She said: “We are submitting the film to the censorship board.”

Early this month, local movie portal cinema.com.my stated that the movie was slated for a Jan 2 release but had been scrapped from the distributor’s 2014 line-up.

The US$100mil (RM333mil) The Wolf Of Wall Street is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, a successful stockbroker living the high life after making millions in the 1990s.

The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, depicts over-the-top sexual acts (although Scorsese edited out some original sexual content and nudity to get an R rating instead of NC-17 in the United States), drug abuse and a lot of foul language.

It has earned high praise from critics and has been garnering nominations and accolades – most recently picking up five Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture.

The movie has been making headlines locally because its Malaysian link, producer Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, was omitted when it was nominated for the Best Picture category of the Oscars.

Riza is CEO of Red Granite Pictures, the production and financing company behind the film. He was named as a producer when The Wolf Of Wall Street was nominated for the recently-held Producers Guild Awards.

According to deadline.com, Riza won’t be contesting the decision.

It said that Red Granite had released this statement: “We are thrilled that the Academy has recognised the invaluable contributions of Marty, Leo, Joey (McFarland) and Emma (Til­linger Koskoff) on behalf of The Wolf Of Wall Street. Riza Aziz and Red Granite remain honoured to be part of the production.”