Vietnam bans Hollywood film over tiny detail
A controversial line on a map shown in a new Hollywood film starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg has caused one country to ban it entirely.
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A new hit movie, starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg, has been banned in Vietnam because of a map shown in the film, which includes China’s controversial “nine-dash-line”.
Uncharted, which also stars Antonio Banderas, earned more than $100 million at the box office worldwide on its opening weekend last month.
There is high hopes as the film hits cinemas in China from Monday, which is the world’s biggest theatrical market.
But the American action-adventure film won’t be appearing in Vietnam cinemas from March 18 as expected.
“The film was banned from distribution after we watched it and found it contained an illegal image of the infamous nine-dash line,” state-run Vietnam News Agency reported, citing Department of Cinema head Vi Kien Thanh.
The “nine-dash-line” is a U-shaped line used on Chinese maps to illustrate the country’s disputed claims to vast areas in the resource-rich South China Sea. Vietnam has rival claims.
Vietnamese fans took to the film’s Facebook page to condemn the map used.
“Making movies for the world to see or making movies for the Chinese to see?” asked one.
Multiple Facebook users commented: “Boycott Nine-dash line. Paracel and Spratly Islands belong to VIETNAM.”
Other Vietnamese social media users have called for the film to be boycotted.
It is not the first time media has been banned in Vietnam because of maps showing the “nine-dash-line”.
DreamWorks’ film Abominable was banned because of the issue in 2019 and last year, Netflix was ordered to remove Australian spy drama Pine Gap from its services in Vietnam because of a map shown in two episodes.
Uncharted, released by Sony Pictures and directed by Ruben Fleischer, was in development for well over decade and was originally scheduled for release in 2016 but faced multiple delays.
It was based on a video game series for PlayStation, and follows the story of treasure hunter Victor Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) and street-smart Nathan Drake (Tom Holland), who he recruits to help him recover a 500-year-old lost fortune.
news.com.au has contact Sony for comment.
Originally published as Vietnam bans Hollywood film over tiny detail
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