Vietnam has banned the new Barbie movie over a scene that featured a map that depicted the contested Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, media reports said.
Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, on Monday informed the media of the decision made by the National Council for Film Appraisal and Classification after a review of the movie, reports Vietnam News.
Vietnam is one of the many nations that contests Chinas claim to almost all of the South China Sea.
It is unclear which scene depicts what a senior official called the offensive image of Chinas nine-dash line, reports BBC.
The nine-dash line is used in Chinese maps of the South China Sea to show its territorial claims, the British media reported.
Barbie is an upcoming fantasy comedy film directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay she wrote with Noah Baumbach.
Based on the Barbie fashion dolls by Mattel, the film is the first live-action Barbie film after many computer-animated direct-to-video and streaming television films.
The film stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, respectively, alongside an ensemble supporting cast that includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, and Will Ferrell.
Barbie will premiere in Los Angeles on July 9, 2023, and is scheduled to be released in the United States on July 21 by Warner Bros. Pictures.
