Ahmed Hatem's “Al Molhed” Release Date Delayed

The release date for Egyptian actor Ahmed Hatem's controversial film “Al-Molhed” (The Atheist) has been delayed.

The film was initially set to debut on August 14th, but that has now been delayed by two weeks.

There have been speculations of the film being banned after being subjected to a huge backlash immediately after the release of the official poster and trailer.

A hashtag even called to boycott the pic and lawsuits seeking to stop it from screening.

To added more fuel to the fire, Mohamed El Adl, director of "Al-Molhed", took to Facebook to slam the decision of banning the film, writing: “Banning is not a solution!!”.

The followers of the filmmaker interpreted his words as the pic being banned from screening in cinemas.

"Al-Molhed" boasts a cast that includes Hussein Fahmy, Mahmoud Hemida, Sabrien, Shereen Reda, Tara Emad, Naglaa Badr, Ahmed al-Selkawy, and more.

El Adl directed the pic from a script by Ibrahim Issa. The film focuses on religious extremism, atheism, and young adults turning away from religion.

In a statement on Sunday, Ahmed El Sobky, the producer of "Al-Molhed", was keen to clear the controversy about the film being banned.

"There is no ban. The film was postponed for two weeks in order to complete the mixing and editing. I have all the censorship permits, and the film has been approved by the censorship. There is no ban at all," he said.