Warner Bros. Responds To 'Barbie' Movie Getting Banned in Vietnam Over Map Drawing

At a time when the industry is suffering through historic dual strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, the motion picture industry is poised to see an enormous weekend at the box office with Warner Bros./Mattel’s long awaited toy feature adaptation Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s World War II era three-hour adult drama Oppenheimer reaping a combined $260M+ global start.

 movie is gearing up to be the biggest cinematic release of the summer — and possibly the decade.While we prepare for the film's July 21 release by shopping all things Barbiecore and swooning over Margot Robbie's immaculate press tour outfits, a certain  cast member gave some insight on how he achieved Ken-approved skin on set. Simu Liu, who plays one of the many Kens in the  cinematic universe, revealed his on-set skincare secrets to Aside from relying on painful waxing and body makeup to create the illusion of plastic, poreless skin, Liu relies on a celeb-approved beauty brand to keep his skin supple and hydrated.“Look, right now I'm all about Tatcha,” Liu told. “The Rice Wash, I'm here for all of it! [It] feels great.

The studios are putting on a united front when it comes to the striking scribes and actors, but Warner Bros Discovery and Paramount Global dust-up over who really has the streaming rights to Eric Cartman and the South Park gang shows no signs of settling down.

Barbie film to be shown in the country’s cinemas, but have asked Hollywood distributors to blur the lines on a child-like drawing of a world map, which allegedly shows China’s disputed maritime claims.The film about the Mattel doll – directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling – is set to open in the south-east Asian nation on July 19.The censors began examining Barbie last week after Vietnam reportedly banned the film over scenes featuring a map showing the so-called nine-dash line, which China uses to justify its claim to the South China Sea.Beijing claims territorial ownership over almost the entire South China Sea, despite rival claims from other south-east Asian countries, including the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam.However, after “meticulous” scrutiny of the film, Philippine censors were satisfied that the “cartoonish map” did not depict the nine-dash line.“Instead, the map portrayed the route of the make-believe journey of Barbie from Barbie Land to the ’real world’, as an integral part of the story,” the censorship board said (via The Guardian).“Rest assured that the board has exhausted all possible resources in arriving at this decision as we have not hesitated in the past to sanction filmmakers/ producers/distributors for exhibiting the fictitious ’nine-dash line’ in their materials.”Despite being satisfied, the censors have still asked Hollywood studio Warner Bros. to “blur” the controversial lines on the map.

Barbie won’t be banned in the Philippines after all, following a week-long review by local censors and government officials, although a scene with a controversial map of the South China Sea might be blurred for release.

The upcoming “Barbie” movie has been approved a commercial release in the Philippines after the country conducted “two review sessions and consultations with relevant government agencies,” as per a statement from the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) via Variety. 

Ken-ergy. With just days left to go until Greta Gerwig’s hotly-anticipated “Barbie” movie hits theaters, co-star Ryan Gosling has emerged as one of the film’s most effective — and lovably ludicrous — marketing tools.

the ‘Barbie’ movie after last night’s star-studded Los Angeles premiere.The initial chatter is filled with praise for the Greta Gerwig-directed flick, which stars Margot Robbie, 33, as Barbie and Ryan Gosling, 42, as Ken. More than one critic even went as far as to say that Gosling deserves an Oscar for his role in the hotly-anticipated film, which hits theaters July 21. “Barbie caught me off guard & I mean that in the best way possible,” one critic proclaimed on social media. “It’s funny, bombastic, & very smart.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming platform Netflix has removed the Chinese-produced drama series “Flight to You” from its service in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government banned the series on similar grounds to its objection to the upcoming Warner Bros. film “Barbie.” “As a result of the Vietnamese regulator banning elements of the series, we have removed ‘Flight to You’ from Netflix in Vietnam. It remains available on our service in other markets,” a Netflix spokesperson told Variety in an emailed statement. Both “Barbie” and “Flight to You” are understood to have included scenes that show a map of the South China Sea that depicts the “nine dash line” that represents China’s territorial claim to almost all of the area. Vietnam says that use of the map violates its sovereignty and that it will not tolerate the “nine dash line” in film and TV.

Warner Bros. Film Group said in the statement.

Far-right conservative preacher Kent Christmas asked God to “loose a Holy judgment” on the upcoming Barbie movie because it is “full of transsexual and transgender and homosexuality.”Posted on June 25, a now-viral video shows the Tennessee-based Christmas saying, “I curse in the name of the Lord this new Barbie movie that has been released full of transsexual and transgender and homosexuality in the name of the Lord. May God loose a judge, may God loose a Holy judgment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced a renewal of their multi-year content and platform agreement in New Zealand, securing Sky as the continuing home of HBO, Max Originals, Warner Bros. and Discovery. WBD says that the deal keeps open its options on how and when to launch the HBO Max streaming service in the country. The agreement includes a continuation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s eight channel portfolio (Discovery, Discovery Turbo, Living Channel, TLC, ID, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network and CNN International); current and future seasons of HBO series such as “House of The Dragon,” “The Last of Us” and The White Lotus; returning series “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria” “Game of Thrones,” “Sex & The City,” “Chernobyl”; Max Original series including “Peacemaker” and “The Flight Attendant,” future Warner Bros. blockbuster movies and a library titles including the “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” and “DC Universe” movies.

Vietnam’s decision to ban the movie has been making headlinesNow Warner Bros. is attempting to clarify its intention.The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, was set to hit theaters in the country on July 21, aligning with its big-screen release in most countries around the world.However, Vietnam announced the movie will not be released due to a scene that includes a map using the “nine-dash line” — a set of line segments that represents China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea — which Vietnam claims violates its sovereignty.But the studio rejects the need for controversy.“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Of all the impressive skills Barbie has amassed in her 64 years as a working doll, who knew that cartography would be a focal point of her highly anticipated summer movie debut? But here we are. Trailers for the upcoming “Barbie,” from director Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros. Pictures, have led to the dissemination of a controversial map used in the film – one depicted in a scene with stars Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon (known in the film as “Weird Barbie”) — and the studio is speaking up after days of international headlines. “The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” a spokesperson for the Warner Bros. Film Group told Variety. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”

banned in Vietnam for apparently featuring a map showing China’s claims to the South China Sea that many say includes the territory of other nations.When asked about the controversy during a press conference on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was dismissive of Hanoi’s outrage.“China’s position on the South China Sea issue is clear and consistent,” the official said, adding that Vietnam “should not link the South China Sea issue with normal cultural exchange.”The nine-dash line shown on the map represents China’s claim to a vast section of the disputed waters, which are also being fought over by Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan.An international tribunal at The Hague found the Chinese Communist Party’s map illegal. Beijing dismissed the ruling at the time.The map’s inclusion in “Barbie” underscores the growing controversy over Hollywood’s reliance on China, which has rivaled the US for its biggest market in recent years.

Days after Vietnam banned Warner Bros’ upcoming Barbie due to a scene depicting a map of the South China Sea with the “nine-dash line” that is contested by its government, the Philippines is now weighing whether it will follow suit.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Authorities in The Philippines are weighing a decision on whether to follow the lead taken by Vietnam and ban Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie. Vietnam on Monday announced that it will bar the film’s commercial release due to the movie’s depiction of a map that depicts the “nine dash line,” a disputed representation of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. The Philippines, like Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, have competing claims in the South China Sea and strongly refute China’s claim to nearly the entire maritime region. “If the invalidated 9-dash line was indeed depicted in the movie ‘Barbie,’ then it is incumbent upon the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to ban the same as it denigrates Philippine sovereignty,” said Philippines Senator Francis Tolentino, vice chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, according to local media reports.

Communist party?Senator Ted Cruz unleashed boxed-up anger at the upcoming “Barbie” movie for including what his office called Chinese communist propaganda in the anticipated summer blockbuster, out July 21.The Margot Robbie-starring film came under fire for its pro-China, on-screen representation of islands in the South China Sea that are disputed — and have been the subject of two separate military campaigns in 1974 and 1988 — between both Vietnam and China.In 2016, a United Nations court ruled that China’s claim to the regions had no basis in international law.

Barbie because the film includes the “nine dash line map” that depicts islands in the South China Sea as being controlled by Beijing.Vi Kien Thanh, director general of the Vietnam Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, announced that Barbie will not be allowed to commercially screen in the nation, as ruled by the National Film Evaluation Council.“We do not grant license for the American movie ‘Barbie’ to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line,” the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper stated, citing Thanh (via Variety).The move follows Vietnam banning previous films including Uncharted and Abominable over the same issue.In 2016 the UN ruled unanimously against the validity of the “nine dash line” map, however China responded by saying that it doesn’t recognise the UN’s decision.Meanwhile, in other recent Barbie news, Margot Robbie has revealed the one request she made to director Greta Gerwig before filming the new movie.Set for release on July 21, Gerwig’s film stars Robbie in the titular role, with Ryan Gosling as Ken.Speaking about the film in an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Robbie discussed how she fell in love with the character as a child when she was gifted a Barbie Dreamhouse for Christmas.Such was the impact the gift had on her, that she revealed she asked Gerwig to allow her to live out the real-life fantasy of the Dreamhouse in the film.“I’ll follow your vision. Whatever you want this Barbie movie to be, let’s do that,” she remembers telling the director.

From one imaginary world to another, “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig is further building her movie-making resume.