Jodie gets the chop

Following our report earlier this week on the censorship trouble Jodie Foster and her new film, Anna and the King, was receiving down in Thailand, the country's film board today rejected the proposed movie on the grounds that it was both insulting and irreverent to the Thai monarchy. The Thai film board has offered an ultimatum to producers at 20th Century Fox: amend the script or forget about filming in our country. Apparently, the Film Board is concerned about the depiction of the 19th Century King Mongkut, to be played by Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun Fat, in the working script. "We can't accept that script," said a Thai Film Board spokesman, claiming that the king comes across as a "brutal buffoon" and a "comedian". Anna and the King is a remake of the 1956 classic The King & I which, to this day, is still banned in Thailand for its insulting depiction of Thai monarchy. In Thailand, insulting the monarchy can get you up to 15 years in jail. Fox must now consider altering the script or else opt to shoot in nearby Malaysia.