Greta Gerwig’s long-awaited Barbie movie has officially been banned in Vietnam.
The live-action movie about the famous Mattel dolls - Barbie and Ken - is one of the most highly anticipated releases of the summer.
The Warner Bros flick has an all-star cast including Margot Robbie as the titular character, Ryan Gosling as Ken along with Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon, Ncuti Gatwa, Michael Cera, Simu Liu, America Ferrera, and Dua Lipa.
It is scheduled to be released in most countries across the world on July 21... except for Vietnam.
Watch the Barbie trailer below:The movie was expected to be shown in the country later this month but was officially prohibited by state media on Monday (July 3), according to The Independent.
This is due to a scene featuring a map that shows China's unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea. The U-shaped "nine-dash line" is controversial as the area specified as Chinese territory is challenged and includes a significant amount of area that Vietnam believes is its continental shelf.
China and Vietnam have long been in a standoff over the region, while countries like Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, and Malaysia all make claims to parts of the sea.
As reported by Reuters, Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films, told Tuoi Tre newspaper: "We do not grant a license for the American movie 'Barbie' to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line."
This isn't the first time the nine-dash line has caused trouble for Hollywood. Back in 2019, Abominable - a DreamWorks animated movie - was banned for the same reason, and Madam Secretary was able to stay on Netflix in the country after it removed the scene showing a map.
Ahead of the comedy movie's release, cast members have been garnering fan excitement during the press tour. In an interview with Fandango, Margot Robbie revealed the behind-the-scenes set-up used to film the viral close-up shot of her slipping out of a pair of fluffy pink heels and staying on her tiptoes.
"They are my feet," the 33-year-old Australian actress confirmed, adding that it only took "probably about eight takes, wasn’t that many".
"I walked up, we had little sticky bits on the floor - double-sided tape - for the shoes, so they wouldn’t come off. So that I could get my feet out of them. And I was holding on to a bar, but that’s it," she explained. "I wasn’t in like a harness or anything. I just walked up and kind of held onto the bar above the camera."
The movie soundtrack will be released on the same day as the film, but a few songs are already available. Dua Lipa sings the lead single 'Dance the Night,' while rappers Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice sing 'Barbie World' - which features a sample from the 1997 Aqua hit, 'Barbie Girl'.
Other musicians on the soundtrack include Charli XCX, Karol G, Lizzo, and The Kid Laroi.
Furthermore, it has not been disclosed if Barbie will remove the map scene to allow the movie to be shown in Vietnam.
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