Hole beyond imagination

The sales failure of two films with record-breaking production budgets 60 billion VND and 33 billion VND (figures announced by investors) respectively 578: Madman’s Shot (directed by Luong Dinh Dung) and Third person (director Park Hee Jun, producer Ly Nha Ky) in May, once again revealed the fatal weaknesses of Vietnamese “blockbuster” films on the market.

Unexpected tragedy

With a market still undetermined in terms of domestic film tastes, any work made with a low budget 25 billion VND or more is a risky gamble. To break even, the producer (NSX) must achieve the lowest revenue of about 55 billion dong. The reason is that the amount to pay for the cinema system as well as the distribution, marketing, PR… has consumed no less than 30 billion VND.

Revenue is too low – one billion dong – of Third person First of all, due to objective factors such as the film is old in the eyes of the audience because filming since 2018, the filmmaking process was unfinished because of several stops due to lack of money until producer Ly Nha Ky spent money to buy the film back, and then continue to perfect the work to be released in mid-May.

Ly Nha Ky’s movie suffered a heavy loss. Image: PCC.

In fact, the production cost of this film is only about 20 billion VND In return, the extra part is beyond the manufacturer’s plan. Producer Ly Nha Ky must not have too much confidence to set a goal of earning more movies 70 billion VND, helping her break even. Knowing that it would be a loss, but only collecting about one billion dong in ticket money after 2 weeks in theaters was beyond the imagination of the crew.

Take the heaviest damage Third person is 578: Crazy shot just released to the audience on 5/20. According to statistics from Box Office Vietnam – independent box office observer – film grosses approx 3 billion dong after almost a week of showing.

With the above figure, the film’s producer can lose all the investment money 60 billion VND for movies. In 2 years 2021 and 2022 (up to this point), only 2 foreign blockbusters are Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness over the above mark 100 billion VND box office revenue in Vietnam.

In there, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is approaching the milestone 200 billion VND. I think, the producer of 578: Crazy shot They expected their film to lose money, but losing the production money was an unexpected tragedy.

Back in early 2021, the movie Penitent with an easy script, limited acting ability from the cast, and only earned about 2 billion dong fare vs expense 50 billion VND spend on making movies.

If not counting the obstacles that the Covid-19 pandemic affects moviegoers, the percentage of films with low production budgets 25 billion VND or more in Vietnam, breaking even or winning in terms of revenue is still too meager compared to movies with heavy losses.

Emotional hole

See 578: Madman’s Shot, a part of the audience may not feel sorry for the money spent because of the crew’s efforts in bringing the audience real action scenes. Attached are the frames of the Northwest mountains. However, that was not enough for the majority of the audience to be satisfied and spread excitement about the film.

Director Luong Dinh Dung was unnecessarily embracing the task of scripting 578: Shot of a madman. The subjectivity in creating a story that is not seamless enough, the characters’ personalities are superficial, as well as the lines in many places are very silly … have caused the film to lose the most important values ​​of the script – the background. foundation to create the attractiveness of the work.

The acting of the actors all have problems, the confusing way of telling makes the movie seriously lose points, no matter how good the visuals and actions are.

578: Crazy shot has a confusing script, many holes. Image: PCC.

Like overseas Vietnamese actor Alexandre Nguyen in the movie 578: Crazy shotthe participation of Han Jae Suk in the movie Third person could not revive the movie no matter how hard they tried. As the actors had to accept the dubbing to make sure the audience could hear Vietnamese clearly, the phase difference between facial expressions and dialogue was pulled further and further away. From there, the audience’s emotions continued to fall.

Gone are the days of inviting a famous foreign actor to participate in a Vietnamese film project, hoping to attract attention and attract audiences to theaters. The success of Vietnamese films in terms of revenue is largely due to word-of-mouth effects.

The audience when leaving the theater will be very excited to share about the film on social networks or tell friends and relatives to go and see the movie, which will help sell the movie tickets. Without this advantage, each audience after leaving the theater will of course “disappear”.

The audience sometimes even transmits “negative energy”, as in the recent case of Ghost stories near home have suffered. Because of the confusion of the content, the movie’s growing number of screenings and sales dropped suddenly.

Just like moviegoers around the world, Vietnamese viewers increasingly like perfectionism for a movie that hits theaters. However, with Vietnamese films, the audience sometimes doesn’t ask for too much, the only thing they need is to touch emotions. Too bad movies with big production budgets like 578: Madman’s Shot, Third Man… can not do that even though the amount of money spent to invest is too large.

Movie theaters enter low season again

During the past time, it was the time when the exam season of all levels took place with excitement. Parents, students, and teachers are reeling in the flow of studies and exams, creating an objective situation that causes the audience rate to drop seriously.

The most obvious proof is the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness only take 5 days to reach 100 billion VND ticket fare since the official cinema release. However, up to now, after more than 20 days, the film has not been able to reach the milestone 200 billion VND. While, very fortunately in “alone and one market” cinema on the occasion of April 30, the movie Super easy job can only be earned 70 billion VNDeven though the Vietnamese version is just an “ugly duckling” compared to the “splendid swan” of the Korean version – Super hard job.

Movies that invest tens of billions of dong in Vietnam are quite precarious when they hit theaters. Image: PCC.

In Vietnam, relying on the names of one or two actors to hope that the movie will attract the audience is still very precarious. But looking for a famous cast like Super easy job with Kieu Minh Tuan, Thu Trang, Tien Luat, Hua Vi Van, Quang Tuan, Thanh My, Huynh Phuong… plus a good script available to bring to Vietnamization, the probability of profit success is definitely high.

Good movies make money hard this season, let alone movies like 578: Madman’s Shot, Third Man… without a solid basis for the film’s story and the actors involved, the possibility of box office failure is predictable.

(Nguyen Phong Viet – Theo Zing)