Barbie movie has been banned in Vietnam

One country is set to miss out on the cinematic event of the decade as it won't be showing Barbie because the movie has been banned.

Set to release on 21 July, the highly anticipated movie starring Margot Robbie in the title role is expected to be one of the biggest films of the summer, but there's one spot in the world where it won't be showing.

Vietnam has announced that they're not going to be screening Barbie because there's a scene in the film which features a map showing something called the 'nine dash line'.

For those Barbie fans who haven't brushed up on the complex geopolitical situation in the South China Sea for a while we'll give you a refresher which will hopefully help explain why the movie is banned in Vietnam.

The 'nine dash line' is used on Chinese maps to show the territory they claim in the South China Sea, with a whole series of disputed islands in the waters and China itself creating artificial islands with military bases to assert their claims on the area.

Warner Bros.

In 2016 an international tribunal ruled against the extent of China's claims in the sea but the government in Beijing has not recognised the ruling and continues to assert it has a claim on essentially all of the disputed islands in the area.

The South China Sea is contested by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Phillippines, Malaysia and Brunei, so a map showing the 'nine dash line' would not likely go down well in Vietnam, who say China's claims in the region violate their sovereignty.

You might think that Barbie might have been able to spot this coming considering she's spent time as a diplomat and ambassador for UNICEF but apparently not.

A number of movies, including Tom Holland's Uncharted, have been banned in Vietnam for showing the nine dash line so Barbie is by no means the first.

Being banned in Vietnam might be a slight impediment to Barbie's expected haul at the box office as it seeks to make a Barbillion dollars.

Wikimedia Commons

While it's not quite the level of stoking up an international dispute over territory, the movie's production also managed to cause an international shortage of pink paint.

Lead star Margot Robbie sent gifts to co-star Ryan Gosling every day on set, each time being a 'pink present in a pink bow' with a beach theme because Ken's job is 'just beach'.

Gosling said he 'never quite figured out what that means' but appreciated the gesture nonetheless as he thought she might have been 'trying to help Ken understand'.

Robbie and Barbie director Greta Gerwig actually ended up in trouble with toy company Mattel as there was one scene which was judged to be 'off brand' for them.

Fortunately they managed to turn things around by actually performing the scene, showing it had extra dimensions that didn't come through on the script.

Barbie releases in cinemas on 21 July, unless you're in Vietnam.