Tet 2024 movies expected to continue to have blockbusters

Many optimistic signs

Lunar New Year is the golden time for producers to “release” new films. Up to now, there have been 4 domestic films confirmed to be released on the first day of the Year of the Dragon. They are “Mai” (director Tran Thanh), “Gap lai chi bau” (director Nhat Trung), “Sang den” (director Hoang Tuan Cuong) and “Tra” (director Le Hoang).

“Mai” - Tran Thanh’s Tet movie chose the release date and released the trailer and poster exactly 1 month before Tet. The initial images reveal the love story of Mai, a massage worker (played by Phuong Anh Dao) and Duong (Tuan Tran), a “playboy” 7 years her junior.

Mai (Phuong Anh Dao) and Duong (Tuan Tran) in the movie "Mai" by Tran Thanh. Photo: DPCC

During the introduction of the 2024 Tet film project, director Tran Thanh said that this is a project that he has been nurturing for nearly 3 years, and was launched before "Nha Ba Nu", but for many reasons, especially the perfectionism of the script, it was only released at this time. Tran Thanh revealed that "Mai" was invested by him with 50 billion VND, rented high-quality cameras, and the number of filming days lasted up to 47 days while initially it was only planned for 30 days.

Although there is not much information about the film, through the behind-the-scenes images, it can be seen that "Mai" is invested quite carefully and seriously. Tran Thanh is known for the hundred-billion-dollar films "Bo Gia" (2021) and "Nha Ba Nu" (2023), so right after releasing the first information, the film immediately attracted attention. "Mai" promises to continue to "storm" the box office this year's Tet. The director born in 1987 also did not hide his ambition that the film will have good revenue, even surpassing his previous films.

After “Mai”, the film crew of “Gap lai chi bau” also quickly announced the main cast, kicking off the box office race for the 2024 Tet holiday. According to the crew, “Gap lai chi bau” will recreate a retro atmosphere of old Saigon. The film’s poster series also has a nostalgic tone, with objects that are symbolic of Saigon’s cultural life in the 1990s.

Although it is considered quite "safe" because it uses a familiar old formula, "Gap lai chi bau" also has its strengths when it is a film by director Nhat Trung - who has released a series of high-grossing films such as "49 Days" (2015), "Cua lai vo bau" (2019), "Doi mat am duong" (2020)... The film also features Anh Tu in the main role - Phuc. Anh Tu once shared that in "Gap lai chi bau", the character Phuc has a lot of "room" to act, helping the actor to delve deeper into psychology and express emotions. The film also marks Anh Tu's return after "Sieu don gau sieu luan" - a film that achieved 121 billion VND in revenue in 2023 - so this could also be a project that brings surprises and appeal.

In the film “Sang Den”, director Hoang Tuan Cuong tries to create a unique highlight when telling the story of life, love, ups and downs of a reformed opera troupe that had to change into a variety music troupe in the 1990s. The film is a comedy - romance genre, gathering many famous artists such as: People's Artist Hong Van, Meritorious Artist Huu Chau, Meritorious Artist Le Thien, reformed opera artists Chi Tam, Cao Minh Dat, Bach Long, Kim Huyen...

According to the producer, "Sáng đèn" invested nearly 30 billion VND, painstakingly recreating many stage sets across the South, filmed in many places with nearly 300 extras... Director Hoang Tuan Cuong said that the film will have touching stories about love for the profession, family affection, love between couples... and no shortage of comedy to bring laughter to the audience in the first days of the new year. Therefore, although not expected to cause a fever at the box office, "Sáng đèn" has its own confidence, promising to be an interesting unknown in the 2024 Tet film season.

The film “Lights Up” revolves around the story of the rise and fall, the transitional period of Cai Luong and the troupes touring throughout the West. Photo: DPCC

Meanwhile, director Le Hoang also returned to the Tet film race with a project called “Tea”. Talking about the theme of “Tea”, director Le Hoang said that the film is a heavy tragedy but also very emotional. It seems that Le Hoang is not afraid to choose to exploit a rather sensitive topic: adultery. With the trailer released on January 18 “filled” with hot scenes, revealing the “tricky, ambiguous” uncle-niece love story, the film promises to open up a thrilling “drama” with many unpredictable twists.

In addition, under the direction of a director with a reputation for being a talented director, “Tra” brings together famous artists in the Vietnamese cinema industry: Meritorious Artist Truong Minh Quoc Thai, artist Viet Huong, and the appearance of a completely new name: actress Doan Trinh. This makes “Tra” arouse a lot of curiosity before its premiere.

Revenue - the premise for a vibrant film market

Lunar New Year is always a "money-making" season for cinemas. After a successful 2023 Tet film season with hundreds of billions in revenue from two films "Nha Ba Nu" and "Chi Chi Em Em 2", Vietnamese cinema is optimistic with the expectation of continuing to achieve good revenue in the 2024 Tet film season. Experts also assessed that the 4 Tet Giap Thin 2024 films all have strengths when possessing box office stars or reputable production teams, which can "pull" audiences to the theater. In particular, Tran Thanh's name will certainly be a "guarantee" for the success of his Tet film this year. His previous films also received a lot of speculation about content, quality, and even controversy, but all won big in terms of revenue.

However, compared to last year, there were only two films, “Nha Ba Nu” and “Chi Chi Em Em 2”, this year, the number of Tet films has doubled. Therefore, along with the fact that the audience has more choices, the competition is also higher. According to film critic Nguyen Phong Viet, the success of the 2023 Tet film season is because the content of the films does not clash with any “hot” foreign films, not necessarily because the quality of the films is good.

Sharing the same view, director Khoa Nguyen also believes that the 4 Vietnamese films shown during Tet 2024 have different colors and styles, but together they create a rich Tet film atmosphere, thanks to which the audience will have many choices. "The box office revenue race of course often starts with some initial advantages such as the name of the director, producer, reputation of the cast... but in the end it will still be decided by the quality of the film" - director Khoa Nguyen commented.

However, the Tet film season is always a step to create momentum for the film market during the year. In 2023, for the first time, Vietnamese films set a record revenue milestone of more than 1,000 billion VND, also starting with the success of the Tet film season. Therefore, the high-revenue Tet film market is still an important start for producers to invest heavily, creating a vibrant film market, from which they can hope to have worthy film works.

Khanh Ngoc

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/phim-tet-2024-ky-vong-tiep-tuc-co-bom-tan-post282298.html