What makes Vietnamese films so successful?

HUGE REVENUE FROM THE BRAND

In recent years, Tran Thanh and Ly Hai have become household names, attracting audiences to theaters whenever a new film is released. This Lunar New Year season, despite mixed reviews for "The Four Contresses," Tran Thanh remained a box office guarantee, raking in over 300 billion VND. This also demonstrates that Tran Thanh's performance in the Lunar New Year of the Dragon with "Mai" was high-quality, generating nearly 500 billion VND in revenue, creating anticipation for his next project. To date, this director and producer, after four films – "The Godfather," "Mrs. Nu's House," "Mai," and "The Four Contresses" – has brought in a total revenue of approximately 1,800 billion VND, proving that Tran Thanh has solidified his position as a "billion-dollar director" and is sure to attract a large audience.

The film The Four Vengeful Spirits

Director and producer Ly Hai has also become a "hit brand" with the "Lat Mat" film series, estimated to have grossed over 1.2 trillion VND across 7 films spanning 10 years. If we consider "Lat Mat 1" with a revenue of around 72 billion VND to "Lat Mat 7 : A Wish" with a revenue of approximately 459 billion VND, it's clear that Ly Hai's film brand is increasingly solidifying its position in terms of box office revenue.

This shows that Vietnamese cinema is witnessing many filmmakers thriving thanks to their names becoming "hot trends" whenever a new project is released. Several other faces, such as Vo Thanh Hoa and soon Thu Trang, Khuong Ngoc, Hoang Nam… will certainly become "brands" if they continue to make quality films after one or two commercially successful films like they have in the past.

Discussing how brand name generates revenue for a film, director and producer Luong Dinh Dung said: "I think the brand or reputation of the producer/director that makes audiences anticipate their film is not unique to Vietnam; it's the same in the international market. However, with international brands, their products always strike a balance between quality, prestige, and revenue. They understand and always strive for the highest possible film quality. In Vietnam, there are also cases where audience anticipation is due to good film promotion and media coverage, rather than the film itself being truly excellent or high-quality."

AUDIENCES HAVE LIMITED CHOICES AND "MASS TASTE"

Leaving aside the quality of the blockbuster films from the aforementioned big names, it's clear that audiences go to the cinema primarily out of curiosity, following "the crowd," watching films due to media hype, and reading comments and debates on social media. Because of these factors, even though " The Four Venomous Men" is considered a step backward for Tran Thanh compared to his previous films, it still boasts the most impressive box office revenue of this year's Lunar New Year season.

The movie " Face Off 7: One Wish"

According to director Luong Dinh Dung, it's possible that the controversies surrounding the film's quality are part of a marketing campaign, piquing audience curiosity and leading to higher box office revenue. "I think audiences are sometimes at a disadvantage because they lose the right to watch films that guarantee quality content and entertainment, instead going to see them only because of controversies or following trends and popular tastes… In the long run, for sustainable development, Vietnamese films will struggle to reach international markets if revenue isn't accompanied by quality," the director added.

According to director and producer Tran Thanh Huy, the recent success of Vietnamese films is due to the insufficient number of domestic films released in theaters to create competition. This means that audiences don't have many choices, and there aren't many films of different genres to cater to their tastes. If there were 100 Vietnamese films released annually, the competition would be intense, but currently there are only about 30-40 films. And established directors have almost absolute assurance of box office success. They use their reputation to make films and attract audiences, thus generating significant revenue, which is understandable.

Sharing the same viewpoint, director Luong Dinh Dung commented: "Audiences currently have too few choices when watching Vietnamese films in theaters, like 'not knowing what to watch, so they just go to the theater to see if it's any good,' so sometimes some producers make careless products. At this point, they only aim to achieve revenue, and in the long run, Vietnamese cinema will be affected. Furthermore, we lack reliable film criticism channels to give audiences a clear view of a product, helping them to clearly define their tastes and viewing trends."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/phim-viet-thang-lon-nho-dau-185250216193942827.htm