Not in the cinema
That’s why the “Barbie” film is banned in Vietnam
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in Barbie.
© Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
The new “Barbie” film will not be shown in Vietnam. The Southeast Asian country has banned the film from being broadcast.
The “Barbie” film by director Greta Gerwig (39) is on everyone’s lips. Lead actress Margot Robbie (33) is currently on a press tour and is visiting many countries. One country will probably not be there: Vietnam. How among others the Vietnamese online newspaper “VNExpress” and the US industry magazine “Variety” report on Mondaythe highly anticipated film will not be shown in the Southeast Asian country.
The reason for the “Barbie” ban
According to VNExpress, Vi Kien Thanh, director-general of the Ministry of Culture’s cinema department, announced that a ban had been decided by the National Film Appraisal Council. The reason is said to be the so-called nine-dash line shown in the film. With this line, China has laid claim to large parts of the South China Sea on maps for several decades. Therefore, there are not only tensions with Vietnam, but also with Malaysia and the Philippines, among others.
“Barbie” will therefore not start in Vietnamese cinemas on July 21 as previously planned. Chains such as CGV have already removed advertising for the film from their websites, according to the report. The production company Warner Bros. has not yet commented on this conflict and has so far left a corresponding request from “Variety” unanswered.
The controversial nine-dash line has already caused trouble in other productions in Vietnam. In 2022, for example, the action adventure “Uncharted” with Tom Holland (27) was banned in the country because a map with the line was shown. Previously, Netflix had to withdraw the “Pine Gap” series from Vietnam.
While Robbie embodies the cult doll Barbie, Ryan Gosling (42) plays her friend Ken. The film can be seen in Germany from July 20th.