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30% of success comes from media marketing

In the years from 2023 onwards, more and more Vietnamese films have surpassed the 100 billion VND revenue mark. Impressively, after 10 months of 2025, there were 13 Vietnamese films that exceeded this milestone, of which “Red Rain” achieved the highest revenue ever, with more than 750 billion VND.

According to experts, the production cost of Vietnamese films is usually around 30-50 billion VND and the profit sharing ratio between filmmakers and cinemas is around 50:50. Therefore, a film with a revenue of 100 billion VND is usually able to cover production and marketing costs and start making profits, thereby creating momentum for the next projects. At the same time, a revenue of 100 billion VND also means that the film generates a large enough number of viewers, bringing "coverage" as well as reputation to the director, actors, producers... Therefore, the number 100 billion VND is considered the "goal" that Vietnamese filmmakers always aim for.

However, how can a movie reach the 100 billion mark? Is there a “technology” to do this? The movie has not been released yet, how do we know it will reach a hundred billion in revenue? According to producer Nguyen Cao Tung - who has “real-life” experience with a series of famous film projects - we can completely build a set of indicators to measure the success of a movie, thereby being able to calculate the revenue as well as the “life cycle” of the movie.

Sharing with young filmmakers in Hanoi , Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung said that he has many years of experience in producing and managing projects, producing and distributing films for Galaxy and Galaxy Play. He used to act as a capital representative for investors, deciding whether the produced film would be commercialized or not; he used to directly invest money into film projects and also did the marketing for a film of another producer.

Of the 24 films he has made or worked on, the success rate is 38%, a figure he considers “some wins and some losses.” However, what he has learned is not from successful films but from failed projects.

Producer Nguyen Cao Tung (wearing glasses) - the man behind a series of famous film projects and the release of box office "blockbusters". Photo: NVCC

“ Guys, should we spend more money to continue making movies? Everyone will have that question, and there is also another question: how much marketing money do we need to spend to make a successful movie? And when should we cut losses, and when do we need to spend more money? What is the right way to do it?”, Mr. Tung asked.

According to Mr. Tung, what commercial film producers are always concerned about is how to make a film that “wins” and how to measure that. To achieve a revenue of 100 billion, 2 million tickets must be sold (average ticket price 50,000 VND). The good news is that the film market has recently become more balanced. CGV Vietnam's data shows that about 50% of film revenue comes from audiences in the North, while previously, revenue from the South Central region and further south accounted for 75%.

However, although the market has improved a lot, it is not an easy story for filmmakers. Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung said that he considers filmmaking as managing an investment project, all decisions must be based on data. The most important thing is how to measure and manage the film marketing plan in the right direction.
According to his personal observation, box office success is 50% due to the quality of the film, 30% due to the media marketing campaign and 20% due to the release. In the same genre, there are "flop" films but there are also films that explode in revenue of hundreds of billions, the difference often lies in the right or wrong marketing strategy. Films that are highly rated by experts do not necessarily win at the box office and vice versa, bad films can still win big.

“I evaluate films based on 8 factors, from the script, crew, distribution ability to the readiness of the media campaign to estimate risks and profits. When entering the promotion stage, it is necessary to monitor the “health” of the film with a set of indicators, like measuring the heartbeat. From choosing the release time, building a media campaign to managing the advertising budget - all of those factors determine whether the film “sells out” or falls into oblivion ,” said Mr. Tung.

In his index, Mr. Tung emphasized the “two leaps ” - two “golden times” to win in promoting the film. That is, in the month before the film is released, it must create 120 thousand attention and positive discussions on social networks. In the release week alone, this number must reach 30 thousand and 1 month after the release it must reach 50 thousand. Mr. Tung affirmed that if these numbers are not achieved, the film’s revenue will definitely not reach 100 billion VND.

In particular, Mr. Tung emphasized the time when producers choose to release the film. According to him, it is necessary to avoid confrontation with strong competitors and the drop point in the first week of release is also very important. Statistics show that, usually in the first week of release, if the revenue is 100%, then in the second week it is only 50%, and in the third week it continues to decrease by 50%. Therefore, producers often take advantage of the film's heat to boost marketing in the first week, because they know there are not many opportunities in the following weeks.

Making movies is like… playing the stock market

Producer Nguyen Cao Tung likened that filmmaking is sometimes like playing the stock market, filmmakers must “know when to cut losses” or know when to “go all in”, pouring more money into the project to save it. The important thing is to have survey data on the quality of the film - scored with a specific score. This is something he has been researching and studying for the past 18 years.

1(1).jpg — Producer Nguyen Cao Tung (right) and director Nguyen Hoang Diep talk with young filmmakers in Hanoi.

Accordingly, if the film quality survey results are 7.5 points or higher, producers are recommended to boldly increase their marketing and distribution budget, maximize revenue, and expand media coverage. A score of 7-7.5 means that there is still the ability to reach the market but lacks breakthrough factors. To save the project, it is necessary to increase marketing activities to compensate for limitations and focus media on the film's strengths to attract public attention. Regarding revenue, if the film score is from 1-7.5, it will only reach less than 10 billion VND, investors should stop and cut losses, if the score is above 8.0, the probability of reaching over 40 billion VND is very high.

“ Numbers never lie. If the film quality survey results are 7.5 points or higher, the number of discussions on social networks is from 120,000 to 200,000, the audience creates their own discussions at least 40% and the sentiment index is above 0.7, then the possibility of the film surpassing the 100 billion mark in revenue is completely reasonable. Just recently, “Fighting in the Sky” reached 8.7 points. Meanwhile, “Claws” went back and forth, adjusted back and forth but never reached 7.3 points, so the revenue could not reach 5 billion ,” Mr. Tung gave an example.

Therefore, according to Mr. Tung's recommendation, surveying the film version is a must, along with post-production and marketing. "The quality of the film version is the most important. Filmmakers can market to 100-200 million awareness, 100-200 thousand attention and discussion, but if the quality of the film version is poor, the revenue will never reach 100-200 billion", Mr. Tung affirmed.

According to Mr. Nguyen Cao Tung, these numbers can be measured, so producers can completely know whether the film is successful or not before the release date. Therefore, filmmakers should not blame that their film is so good but the theater does not arrange screenings, or that the film is so good but why the revenue is not 50 or 100 billion. "If there is no measurement, we will do the math blind. Do not wait until it is too late to act in time", Mr. Tung advised.

Source: https://congluan.vn/can-mot-he-sinh-thai-kinh-doanh-van-hanh-chuyen-nghiep-cho-phim-dien-anh-10317599.html