According to Deadline, Lebanon and Kuwait will not be performing Death on the Nile due to both nations' opposition to Israeli national star Gal Gadot.

Gadot enlisted in the Israeli military for two years before pursuing a career as a model and actress, as her homeland requires.

Lebanon previously blocked the actress' film Wonder Woman from being released in May 2017 due to her ties to the IDF. The organisation Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel-Lebanon apparently urged the country to do so at the time. In Qatar, Wonder Woman was likewise outlawed. Wonder Woman 1984 was also banned in Lebanon, but Kuwaiti theaters were closed at the time due to the pandemic.

This weekend, Death of the Nile will be released in the remainder of the Middle East. Lebanon and Kuwait made no requests for changes to the print.

The Daily Mail, which broke the story of Kuwait's ban on Death on the Nile, cited the local Al-Qabas daily as saying that the government gave in to a ban of Kenneth Branagh's Agatha Christie adaptation due to social media outcry. A country official source was also mentioned in the press as claiming that they would not book a film starring a former soldier in the Zionist invading force.

Gadot suspended Twitter comments in May 2021 in response to a tweet on the Israel–Hamas missile attacks conflict. What the actress intended as a message of unity was interpreted by opponents as pro-Israel propaganda. The post, which you can read below, was left up by Gadot.

Meanwhile, Death on the Nile is one of the few American films to be released in China (Feb. 19), following the unavailability of numerous prominent Hollywood films last year. With the exception of Spain (February 18) and Japan (February 25), as well as Hong Kong, Croatia, and Hungary, all important offshore territories are showing the picture on the same day this weekend.

Death on the Nile is likely to be the top-grossing film in the United States this weekend, with a take in the mid-teens.