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