‘Uncharted’ removed from PH cinemas over 9-dash line scene

MANILA – Hollywood film “Uncharted” was pulled out in Philippine cinemas over a scene containing an image of the nine-dash line, an invisible demarcation that depicts China’s claims in the South China Sea.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday said it requested the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) to reevaluate and pull out the screening of the adventure film, which stars Tom Holland, saying the nine-dash line image was “contrary to national interest”.

In a response quoted by the DFA, MTRCB stated that it had “ordered Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. to cease and desist from exhibiting the said motion picture, unless and until they are able to remove the objectionable scenes.”

The MTRCB further reported that Columbia has since complied with its order and has pulled out the movie from the cinemas.

“The nine-dash claim is contrary to national interest, which has been settled in the 2016 Arbitral Award. The Arbitral Tribunal held that China’s nine-dash line has no legal basis as its accession to UNCLOS has extinguished any of its rights that it may have had in the maritime areas in the South China Sea,” the DFA said.

“China also never had historic rights in the waters within the nine-dash line,” it added.

Last March, Vietnam blocked “Uncharted” in its cinemas over the same map prior to its screening on March 18.

The Sony film, which also stars Mark Wahlberg, Sophia Ali, and Antonio Banderas, was released in the Philippines in February 2022.

This is not the first time that the agency sought to prohibit the screening of a Hollywood movie featuring China’s nine-dash line.

In 2019, it requested the MTRCB to pull out the DreamWorks animated feature “Abominable” after a scene showed a similar map.