'Barbie' banned in Vietnam because it features a map depicting China's claim over the disputed South China Sea

• Barbie has been banned in Vietnam, according to a new report by Reuters.
• Reuters said the movie features a map depicting China's claim over the disputed South China Sea.
• "Barbie" is the third movie to be banned in Vietnam over the dispute.

"Barbie" will not be released in Vietnam, according to a new report.

Citing local news coverage, Reuters reported Monday that the highly anticipated summer movie has been banned because it features a map depicting China's claim over a disputed part of the South China Sea.

Numerous countries in the region have overlapping claims to the resource-rich waters, including both China and Vietnam. China has claimed sovereignty over a U-shaped region of the sea, more commonly known as the "nine-dash line" because of the way it is depicted on some maps, parts of which Vietnam contests as its own territory. 

"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," Vi Kien Thanh, Vietnam's head of the Department of Cinema, is quoted as telling the state-run Tuoi Tre newspaper, according to Reuters.

Warner Bros. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

This is not the first movie to be banned in Vietnam over the dispute. "Abominable" and "Uncharted" were both banned for depicting the same map.

In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague found that the "nine-dash line" had no legal basis. However, China has disregarded the ruling.

"Barbie" premieres in theaters on July 21.

The movie, directed by Greta Gerwig and featuring a star-studded cast, has already gained popularity internationally, spawning viral memes and trends.

Despite the buzz about the film, the general plot of the movie has been kept largely under wraps.

Even the body double for lead actor Margot Robbie told The New York Times last week that she doesn't know what it is about.

"They did a very good job of keeping the plot hidden," Emma Eastwood said. "They didn't give me any details of what we would be doing. There were a couple times they said the whole cast would be there and it would be an important day, but they never actually gave me any details of what we would be doing until I was on set."