Egyptian superstar Amr Waked said on his twitter account that the management of City Stars, a mega mall that houses multiple movie screening halls, has refused to include El-Ott in its mid-year film selection.   

El-Ott (The Cat) is the fifth feature film by video journalist-turned filmmaker Ibrahim El-Batout. The film stars Farouk El Fishawy, Sarah Shaheen, Salah A. Hanafy, Amr Farouk and Salma Yakout alongside Waked. 

"The management at City Stars has recently refused to screen El-Ott in any of its 18 screening halls. I was told that this is because I am part of the film, and that there is no place for me there," Waked tweeted earlier this week. 

However, this claim was refuted by representative at City Stars, Waked continued. "When I called them I was told that all screening halls were already booked. They [City Stars] are only screening three Arabic films in their 18 halls this season," he added. 

Two days later Waked announced on his twitter account that City Stars "is the only theater in Egypt that refused to screen El-Ott." 

The internationally-recognised actor plays a gangster who is on a search for his kidnapped daughter. Along the way, he exposes social ills prevalent in Cairo's slums, including organ trafficking and child marriage.

El-Ott premiered in Abu Dhabi last October and received its first home screening a month later at the Cairo International Film Festival. 

Following its commercial release in Cairo, it will be released in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Iraq.