Tom Hardy's new film banned in Russia

Los Angeles: Russian film officials have blocked the release of Tom Hardy's new film, "Child 44", in which he portrays a disgraced soviet agent tracking down a serial child killer.

The film, directed by Daniel Espinosa and starring Hardy and Gary Oldman, is adapted from Tom Rob Smith's novel about a series of grisly child murders set in the Stalin-era Soviet Union.

Culture Ministry bosses, who claim the movie distorts historical facts, have withdrawn plans for its release this weekend, after a preview raised concerns about Hardy's character and the plot, set in Stalin-era Russia, reported Deadline.

A statement suggests the film's release in the run-up to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two is "unacceptable".

Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky claims the movie depicts Russians as "physically and morally base sub-humans".