The person who dared to challenge Ly Hai.

This year's April 30th - May 1st holiday film season has become more fiercely competitive than ever as two of Vietnam's most prominent directors, Ly Hai and Victor Vu, clash for the first time. Ly Hai is a director who has grossed billions of dong after directing seven installments of his franchise. With "Lật Mặt" (Face Off) , Victor Vũ has also built his own "empire" during his 20-year journey in the Vietnamese film market.

For many years, Ly Hai has dominated the second-largest holiday film season of the year at the domestic box office. Despite competing with several other film projects, Turn the tables. Both were easily overcome to achieve promising revenue milestones. However, the situation has changed this year as Victor Vũ no longer leaves Lý Hải "going it alone." Conversely, Lý Hải cannot be complacent when competing against a big name with extensive experience in the film industry like Victor Vũ.

The race at the domestic box office during the April 30th holiday season will therefore be the most intense and unpredictable in recent years.

Ly Hai and Victor Vu invest in their first 'battleground'.

In the Vietnamese film market, the April 30th - May 1st holiday is always a prime time for film projects, second only to the Lunar New Year film season. This year, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and the reunification of the country, and with many vibrant activities in Ho Chi Minh City, films released during this period are attracting even greater public attention.

The race for holiday films is heating up more than ever with the emergence of two names: Ly Hai and Victor Vu. Prior to this, Detective Kien: The Unsolved Case The film, originally directed by Victor Vũ, was scheduled for release in mid-May. However, more than a month ago, the project suddenly changed its release date to coincide with April 30th, directly competing with... Flip Face 8: The Sunshine Bracelet By Ly Hai. Victor Vu said this was a joint decision, coming from both the distribution and production units, and that he alone did not have the power to change it.

However, he also stated that "April 30th is a potential market for Vietnamese films and we hope to bring a diverse cinematic feast to the audience." Regardless of the interpretation, Victor Vũ and his team's calculations demonstrate their ambition to capture a share of the market during this year's holiday season.

Moreover, Victor Vũ completely revamped his media and pre-release promotional campaigns. A few weeks before the film's official release, the director and crew went all out, organizing two grand showcase events in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi . Notably, this was the first time in nearly two decades of filmmaking that the 50-year-old director held a showcase in Hanoi. Over the past few days, the film crew has also launched a well-planned and extensive promotional campaign.

Victor Vũ and his wife have been actively promoting the film in recent days. Photo: @victorvu.

The director and his wife participated in numerous events to promote the film, released trailers and short clips, and heavily promoted the film and its cast in the press and on social media. On this first "battleground," Victor Vũ is said to be going all-in on a major project, marking a milestone of 20 years since his entry into the Vietnamese film market.

Meanwhile, Ly Hai eagerly launched his first "cards." The "billion-dollar director" held a showcase in Ho Chi Minh City at the Light Park in Thu Duc City, attracting approximately 10,000 attendees. At the event, attendees exchanged bracelets, received lightsticks, watched artists perform music and DJ sets, interacted with and sang duets with artists, participated in games, and received gifts. This is considered the largest-scale showcase ever in the Vietnamese film market. Furthermore, Ly Hai and his team will be giving away 1,000 free screenings to audience members who will act as extras in the film's concert. Flip Face 8 , April 18th.

The director, producer, and cast continued their interaction with the audience at a shopping mall in Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City, that same evening.

Ly Hai held an outdoor showcase, attracting nearly 10,000 spectators. Photo: DPCC.

Victor Vũ and Lý Hải's initial moves show that both are fully focused on this fierce competition. The duo are adopting a fresh and more creative approach to media communication in order to reach their target audiences.

"When looking at the current overall situation, Turn the tables. 8 is currently ahead in terms of media coverage. Ly Hai's film targets the Southern audience, the mainstream, while Detective Kien "The film focuses on viewers from the North southward. However, Ly Hai's advantage is that he has assembled a larger cast and stronger media presence compared to Victor Vu's film. Both have invested heavily in media and film promotion recently, estimated to be 2-3 times more than other projects," commented Anh Nguyen, an expert in film marketing.

What will happen?

With this latest film, Victor Vũ will "relieve the boredom" of film lovers with a detective film project. The film is set during the Nguyen Dynasty, approximately 200 years ago, when detective Kien (Quoc Huy) is invited to a village to investigate a mysterious disappearance. Detective Kien and Mrs. Hai Man (Dinh Ngoc Diep) have a prior connection from the film. The Last Wife . The two continue their journey together in a new story that takes place three years after the events of... The last wife is connected to the disappearance of Nga (Hai Man's niece), which villagers rumored was linked to water spirits and chilling stories of headless corpses washing ashore.

According to the trailer released by Victor Vũ, the film blends horror and supernatural elements with many thrilling plot twists. The team invested heavily in the setting and costumes.

Victor Vũ and Lý Hải clash for the first time in the April 30th holiday film season. Photo: Provided by the interviewee.

With As of now, Lý Hải hasn't released an official trailer for "Lật Mặt 8: Vòng Tay Nắng" (Face Off 8: Sunny Bracelet) . However, through the teaser, behind-the-scenes images, and content released by the production team, the film continues to pursue the theme of family, with a storyline revolving around a group of young people living in central Vietnam who are passionate about music and dream of becoming "idols." However, differences in viewpoints between three generations—grandparents, parents, and children—lead to conflict.

The film features a large cast spanning multiple generations, including Kim Phuong, Huu Chau, Tuyet Thu, Chieu Xuan, Ngan Quynh, Kieu Trinh, Tran Kim Hai, Doan The Vinh, Tin Nguyen, and many others. The film's settings are also diverse, spanning various locations such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vinh Hy, Phan Rang - Thap Cham (Ninh Thuan), and Long An . The themes of family and generational gap were explored by Ly Hai in his most recent project. Flip Face 7: One Wish. The film helped the director earn a significant amount. 482 billion VND , the largest amount in the brand's history. Turn the tables.

Predicting box office revenue for this year's holiday season, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Duong, founder of Box Office Vietnam assuming that Flip Face 8 And Ly Hai easily took the top spot at the box office this holiday season, despite having to compete with Victor Vu.

"Ly Hai is a filmmaker who understands market psychology and knows what the audience wants. Audiences love his works. And he knows exactly what to do to please the mass audience. Regarding..." Detective Kien is a visually impressive product, giving the impression of high production value. But except for one thing... Blue Eyes "Adapting the most famous works of writer Nguyen Nhat Anh, Victor Vu's recent projects have not generated explosive revenue. Therefore, I think it will be very difficult for Victor Vu's films to surpass the products of Ly Hai, a highly experienced filmmaker who, most importantly, has a strong appeal to the general public," Mr. Duong commented.

Sharing the same view, producer Nguyen Cao Tung believes that the outcome of this year's Vietnamese film competition during the holiday season will largely depend on the quality of the two projects. Flip Face 8 It will be difficult to surpass that milestone. 482 billion VND of part 7. He predicted that Ly Hai's latest film would achieve a box office of approximately... 350 billion VND , while Detective Kien could earn approximately 150 billion VND .

"The domestic film market is clearly differentiating and becoming more diverse. Opportunities are evenly distributed among directors. Tran Thanh no longer monopolizes the Lunar New Year film season. Similarly, Ly Hai is no longer the sole dominant figure in the April 30th holiday film season. If two films perform well during the holiday period, it's highly likely to boost overall market revenue. However, this also puts pressure on directors like Tran Thanh and Ly Hai... They have to reinvent themselves, investing more and more in meticulous scriptwriting and project quality," Mr. Cao Tung explained.