San Francisco, Aug 22 (IANS): Netflix has apologised for the material it used to promote the controversial French film, "Cuties" after thousands of people signed a petition demanding the removal of the movie from the streaming platform.

Directed by Maimouna Doucoure, the movie is about an 11-year-old who hopes to join a dance crew.

The petition at Change.org which has now amassed over 225,000 signatures alleges that the movie is "disgusting" as it "sexualizes" an 11-year-old for the "viewing pleasure of paedophiles".

The petition is accompanied by a screenshot of the original plot summary of the movie which introduced the central character as Amy, "who becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew" and "starts to explore her femininity".

The movie was originally titled "Mignonnes".

"We're deeply sorry for the inappropriate artwork that we used for 'Mignonnes/Cuties'," Netflix said in a statement this week.

"It was not OK, nor was it representative of this French film which won an award at Sundance. We've now updated the pictures and description."

While Netflix has apologised for its promotional materials, there are no plans to remove the film, which is scheduled for a global debut on September 9, The Los Angeles Times reported.

In a recent interview with Cineuropa, the director of the film revealed that "Cuties" is partly based on her own experiences of growing up.