As of the morning of May 13, according to figures from Box Office, the revenue of the film "Detective Kien: The Unheard Project" by director Victor Vu has reached 203 billion VND, while the revenue of "Flip Side 8: Sun Hands" is 205 billion VND.
In theaters, the screening of "Detective Kien" is taking the lead, winning more screenings per day than "Flip Side 8". With this momentum, the film "Detective Kien" by director Victor Vu may surpass the revenue of "Flip Side 8" in the coming days.
Looking back at the intense chase between the two Vietnamese films, Flip Side 8 and Detective Kien, it can be seen that Victor Vu had a miraculous comeback against Ly Hai.
When it first opened in theaters, "Detective Kien" was overwhelmed by "Flip Side 8" in terms of screenings and revenue. Flip Side 8 is gradually losing its appeal due to the old script and theme, the approach and development of Flip Side 8 is also in the process of getting old. The film is considered a step backward for Ly Hai. He is safe and has not had a breakthrough in filmmaking after 8 parts of Flip Side.
Meanwhile, Detective Kien is evaluated more fully in terms of script as well as director skills. The film has impressive scenes and beautiful frames. Victor Vu has a relatively tight and neat way of handling scripts even though the plot of the film is not too special.
About a year ago, producer Xuan Lan had to change the release schedule of the movie "The Price of Happiness" to avoid "collisioning" with Ly Hai. The film market until 2024 is still divided into market share according to the formula: Tran Thanh, Ly Hai and the rest.
Tran Thanh swept through the Tet film season, causing many competitors to ask to withdraw the film from theaters, he made Mai the Vietnamese film with the highest revenue of all time with 550 billion VND. Meanwhile, Ly Hai dominated the film screening during the holiday on May 30-15, making Flip Side 7 the second highest-grossing film of all time with VND482 billion.
By the 2025 film season, there had been other changes, Tran Thanh's "The Four Guardians" was criticized for its cumbersome script, too many lines, and the work being chased by "The billion-dollar kiss" directed by Thu Trang for the first time.
There were days when "The Billion Dollar Kiss" surpassed "The Four Guardians" in terms of revenue when the theater coverage was better. After leaving the theater, "The billion-dollar kiss" earned more than 200 billion VND, while "The Four Guardians" earned 332 billion VND - becoming Tran Thanh's lowest-grossing film.
In her first time as a director, Thu Trang showed a great race with Tran Thanh when participating in the 2025 Lunar New Year film season.
Both Tran Thanh and Ly Hai are showing signs of stagnation in the Four Guardians and Lat mat 8.
Talking to Lao Dong reporter, about Vietnamese films that are winning big in terms of revenue and the race of 2 names that have swept the box office, Ly Hai and Tran Thanh, director Dinh Tuan Vu said, "Ly Hai and Tran Thanh are people who are very quick-witted in terms of ability to grasp the tastes and psychology of the audience. They have proven their ability in the Vietnamese film market in recent years.
But I think that in the near future, Ly Hai and Tran Thanh will have to worry when the market will have many new names with great potential. In the first 4 months of 2025, brand new names on the director's chair such as Thu Trang and Huynh Lap have had "huge" films with revenue, all of which were over 200 billion VND. The new names bring surprise and excitement, unpredictable competition in the Vietnamese film market this year".
