"Tran Thanh, Ly Hai and the rest"
Since “Bo Gia” – the film was scheduled to premiere on the first day of Tet 2021, then had to be postponed to March due to the pandemic, since then, Tran Thanh has had a Tet film every year.
Tran Thanh’s participation in the Tet film market has created breakthroughs with consecutive revenue records. Among them, only Tran Thanh has broken the record he created at the box office. “Bo Gia”, “Nha Ba Nu”, “Mai” – set records with numbers far surpassing the remaining series of films by other directors on the market.
The revenue of these 3 films also helped Tran Thanh become a rare "thousand-billion director" in the Vietnamese film market.
Recently, when Tran Thanh announced the new Tet movie, “The Four Guardians” with a hot cast of Miss Tieu Vy, Miss Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, Quoc Anh, Tran Thanh... The movie trailer was widely shared. Even the dialogue of Miss Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen went “viral” (spread) quickly.
Tran Thanh has always been highly appreciated by experts for his ability to understand the market, accurately hitting the psychology and tastes of the majority of audiences. Although the "Four Guardians" has just released its images and trailer, it is predicted that it will have good revenue at the theaters during the upcoming Tet holiday, thanks to the attraction of the cast.
For many years, when dividing the market share in the Vietnamese film market, experts have made the statement, “Tran Thanh, Ly Hai and the rest”, to show the dominance of Tran Thanh, Ly Hai – the thousand-billion directors in the film market. Accordingly, Tran Thanh “guards” the Tet movie theater, while Ly Hai dominates the box office during the 4/30 - 5/1 holiday period.
Evaluating Tran Thanh, Ly Hai and the film market in 2024, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan - former Director of the Department of Cinema, President of the Vietnam Film Promotion and Development Association (VFDA) said: "It is a coincidence that both Tran Thanh and Ly Hai are "amateur" directors. But they are the scriptwriters and directors, I think that, in addition to script techniques, telling an attractive story requires charm, experience, understanding the needs and tastes of viewers. Ly Hai and Tran Thanh are very strong in those points, their films attract audiences "surpassing" even their seniors".
The efforts of the hundred billion directors
However, Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan said, “Looking at it from a practical perspective, fairly and squarely, I think that in order to have “trillionaire” directors like Tran Thanh and Ly Hai, the Vietnamese film market has been built for decades by directors and producers worth hundreds of billions like Victor Vu, Charlie Nguyen, then Phan Gia Nhat Linh, Bao Nhan & Nam Cito, Le Thanh Son, Vo Thanh Hoa, Nguyen Quang Dung, Ngo Thanh Van…”.
The Vietnamese film market has changed dramatically in recent years since the days of trashy comedies and disaster movies. Most trashy comedies have disappeared. Many works have been carefully invested in from scripts, sound, acting to images when released in theaters. According to Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, “shit comedies and disaster movies have almost been liquidated.”
The generation of "hundred-billion-dollar directors" such as Victor Vu, Charlie Nguyen, Bao Nhan - Nam Cito, Phan Gia Nhat Linh, Nguyen Quang Dung, Ngo Thanh Van... have breathed new life into the film market with works that have caused a fever at the box office thanks to their quality.
It was also them, with their quality works, who created momentum for box office records to be set. With a series of poetic Vietnamese films, bringing a new breeze to the cinema such as Mat Biec, Toi Thay Hoa Vang Tren Co Xanh, My Nhan Ke, Thang Nam Ruc Ro... or a series of invested films such as Hai Phuong, Thanh Soi, Scandal Bi Mat Do, Thien Menh Anh Hung... have restored the trust of Vietnamese audiences to buy tickets to the cinema to watch Vietnamese films.
For many years, the team of directors with hundreds of billions of dong have worked together to build a brand for Vietnamese films, create a market for Vietnamese films, create trust with the audience, thereby changing the audience's habits, attracting them to the cinema to watch movies.
That is why, experts believe that to have “thousand-billion directors” like Tran Thanh and Ly Hai, we need a market that has been built for many years, and a Vietnamese audience that is willing to spend money to go to the cinema to watch Vietnamese films. That market, that audience – has been built by many “hundred-billion directors” together.
