Philippines Weighs Decision on ‘Barbie’ Movie Over Disputed Map Scene

The Batman legacy lives on.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief While “Barbie” was romping to box office records in North American and scoring strongly in many international territories, the pink phenomenon could muster only fifth place in China, the world’s second largest movie market, on its opening weekend. “Barbie” managed $8.2 million in its opening three days, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Local box office sources show the film trapped in that position on all three days of the weekend session, as the locally-produced titles jostled for leadership and swapped positions. Somewhat encouragingly, the daily score for “Barbie” had increased by Sunday as it was given more screening sessions by Chinese exhibitors.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter The battle of the bomb versus the bombshell has gone global. Over the weekend, Greta Gerwig’s very pink fantasy-comedy “Barbie” collected a stunning $182 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide total to $337 million. Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan’s R-rated historical drama “Oppenheimer” held its own, igniting to $93.7 million from 78 markets for a huge global tally of $174 million. The two seemingly different blockbusters, which were jokingly pitted against each other, crushed already-stratospheric expectations thanks to the cultural phenomenon known as “Barbenheimer.” Hundreds of thousands of moviegoers booked a double feature for the ages, attending same-day viewings of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.”

reads the description of the exclusive convertible, which acts as a popcorn vessel. “This collectible Barbie car popcorn container recreates the iconic pink Corvette seen in Barbie The Movie.”“With a curvy silhouette and retro trims, the vintage-inspired convertible is a piece of art on four wheels!” it continued. On Twitter, AMC Theaters elicited a less-than-enthusiastic reaction from Mattel fans.

Joe Biden would look like in a Barbie World? You’re in luck: An enterprising film editor is cashing in on the rabid “Barbie” movie craze by giving the US president and other A-listers Mattel-inspired makeovers with the aid of artificial intelligence. “I absolutely loved making these photos — I was laughing the whole way through,” freelancer Duncan Thomsen, 53, said of his star-studded AI “Barbiefication” campaign.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Korean TV series and films are increasing still further their hold on streaming audiences across East Asia. They accounted for half of viewing time in the first half of the year, according to new third-party research. Korean-made premium VOD content captured 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership between January and June 2023, with a record 58 million VOD users tuning in nine East Asian territories (Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam), according to Singapore-based research and consultancy firm Media Partners Asia. The analysis is based on the measured media consumption activity of 40,000 Asia Pacific consumers, conducted by AMPD, the analysis firm’s sister company.

Lone movie lovers have been hit with a snag when buying tickets at a city centre cinema. A row of touchscreens greet cinema goers as they arrive at Vue, in the Printworks, which allow customers to buy tickets.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Specialty distributor, Trinity CineAsia is releasing China’s summer blockbuster “Lost in the Stars” in the U.K and Ireland on some 30 screens from Friday. “I was fortunate to watch the film when it opened in China and once I saw it I just knew we had to have it,” said Cedric Behrel “‘Lost In The Stars’ is a very clever, uncanny thrill of a ride that harks back to classic Hitchcock and any noteworthy thriller since – the master himself had in fact once optioned the rights to the same story. We organized the fastest turnaround premiere known to man and we’ve been delighted by the reactions to the early previews. It epitomizes the best of what new Chinese cinema can bring to audiences.”

Follow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag Emmerdale fans were left baffled on Thursday night as Clemmie Reed went missing after learning about adopted mum Dawn Fletcher's baby news. During Wednesday's episode, Dawn and husband Billy were worried for adopted daughter, Clemmie, as she faced her first birthday without her late biological mum. And things went from bad to worse when former fake nanny Nicky turned up with a card for Clemmie and scorned ex Gabby Thomas threw him out, accidentally revealing Dawn’s pregnancy to Lucas and Clemmie in the process.

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.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Reese Witherspoon said in a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar that filming a sex scene at 19 years old for the 1996 thriller “Fear” was not “a particularly great experience.” Directed by James Foley, “Fear” stars Witherspoon as a teenager who falls for a sinister young man played by Mark Wahlberg. One of the film’s buzziest scenes centers on Witherspoon’s character having an orgasm on a rollercoaster while being pleasured by Mark Wahlberg’s character. “I didn’t have control over it,” Witherspoon said about filming the sex scene, adding that she requested a stunt double be used for the below-the-waist shots. “It wasn’t explicit in the script that that’s what was going to happen, so that was something that I think the director thought of on his own and then asked me on set if I would do it, and I said no. It wasn’t a particularly great experience.”

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. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” has been allowed a commercial release in the Philippines, following a review by the country’s film censors. However, the scene that shows a controversial map may have to be blurred. The film was last week banned in Vietnam over its inclusion of a scene with a map alleged to show the ‘nine dash line’ by which China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea as its own territory. Vietnam says that China’s claims violate its sovereignty and that films and TV shows must not show the illegal map. On Monday, Vietnam banned Chinese series “Flight to You” for showing the map in multiple episodes.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

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.

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.

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.”

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.