Vietnam bans new Tom Holland film over South China Sea map
‘Uncharted’ starring Mark Walhberg and Tom Holland — best known for playing Spider-man — had been set for release in Vietnam on March 18
Vietnam has banned a new Hollywood film starring Tom Holland over scenes with a map showing Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea, state media reported Saturday.
The action-and-adventure caper « Uncharted » shows a map featuring the so-called nine-dash line, which sets out Beijing’s expansive claims to the disputed waters, where Hanoi has rival claims.
« During the movie review, the National Evaluation and Classification Council discovered that the image of the nine-dashed line appeared in the movie, » director of Vietnam’s Department of Cinema Vi Kien Thanh told the state-controlled Zing news outlet.
On the film’s official Facebook page, Vietnamese users left comments decrying the map.
The long-running issue has been closely contested in the film world.
A year later, Hanoi pulled the animated DreamWorks film « Abominable » from screens over the same issue, with Netflix also told to ditch episodes of its « Pine Gap » series last year over similar scenes.
Agence France Presse – March 13, 2022