'Kite Runner' release date postponed

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Paramount Vantage has delayed the release of its film "The Kite Runner" for fear it could exacerbate tensions in Afghanistan, The New York Times said.

The studio is responding to concerns that the film’s three young stars could be in danger for acting in a drama that shows a Hazara boy raped by a Pashtun bully.

The plan is to get the children out of Kabul before the movie is released Dec. 14, six weeks later than scheduled and after the young stars' school year ends.

The fear is that the film based on Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel will aggravate tensions between the politically dominant Pashtun and the oppressed Hazara.

Although the boys and their relatives are saying the filmmakers mislead them about the controversial scene, the studio and the movie's director Marc Forster contend the climate was different in Afghanistan a year ago when they hired the actors and the boys and their families were fully aware of what the film entailed at the time.

Earlier this year, the distribution of DVDs of "Kabul Express," led to protests in Afghanistan, as well as calls for the execution of the star, who fled the country.