PETALING JAYA: Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) and TGV Cinemas are offering refunds for customers who bought Beauty and the Beast tickets following the announcement that the movie's local release date has been postponed indefinitely.

Customers of both cinema operators who bought the tickets online or via mobile apps will automatically receive a full refund to their bank account.

However, walk-in customers will need to go to the cinema where they purchased the tickets for a cash refund.

Customers are advised to bring a proof of purchase.

GSC said in a statement on Facebook Monday that refunds will start from 11am on March 14 until 10pm on March 31.

GSC Mid Valley has also cancelled its Be Our Guest event with refunds made available.

TGV Cinemas said in a statement that it has yet to receive the new release date for the Disney remake.

It was reported that the local release date for the highly-anticipated film had been postponed due to an “internal review”.

The movie was scheduled to premiere in Malaysian cinemas on March 16.

When contacted, Malaysian Censorship Board (LPF) chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid declined to comment because he is overseas.

Beauty and the Beast courted controversy recently after its director Bill Condon said in UK magazine Attitude that the character of Le Fou, played by Josh Gad, would have a “nice exclusively gay moment” in the movie.

In Singapore, The Straits Times reported that the gay element in the movie prompted Anglican Bishop Rennis Ponniah to issue an advisory alerting the congregation about the homosexual content in the film.

"Disney films for children's entertainment are usually associated with wholesome and mainstream values. But times are changing at a foundational level ... LeFou is portrayed as gay and a 'gay moment' is included in the movie by way of a subplot," a statement released by the St Andrew's Cathedral website read.

"Parents are advised to provide guidance to their children about (the film), and indeed to their children's entertainment choices in a rapidly changing age."

Starring Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast and Luke Evans as Gaston, Beauty and the Beast is a live-action remake of Disney’s classic animated feature, which became the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 1991.