2025 will see war and historical films invested heavily in theaters such as Red Rain, Geography... When entertainment films are reaping a boost, experts expect historical war projects to break the long-standing paradox at the box office.
Currently, the Tet film race in early 2025 marks a great victory for Tran Thanh and Thu Trang. As of the morning of February 15, "The Four Guardians" earned nearly 320 billion VND, while "The Billion Dollar Kiss" earned 181 billion VND.
Before that, Thu Trang shared that she often spends about 20 - 30 billion VND to invest in producing a work. Thus, with 181 billion VND in revenue, "The Billion Dollar Kiss" has helped Thu Trang make a big profit.
The Four Guardians is currently the lowest-grossing work among the 4 films invested by Tran Thanh to produce, direct and act... However, it still made a huge profit for Tran Thanh. The film has a small investment cost, and a sponsor is a "dense" bank behind it.
With revenue of several hundred billion, both The Four Guardians and The Billion Dollar Kiss were criticized for their scripts. The two films are purely entertaining, mentioning old stories, which have been exploited too much in Vietnamese films, from "love triangle", funny characters with awkward situations, to the story of "long legs" approaching tycoons to extort money.
The scripts of "The Four Guardians" or "The Billion Dollar Kiss" are still full of unreasonable loopholes. The logical disregard in "The Billion Dollar Kiss" also makes the film like a work of psychological science fiction.
Most recently, the horror film "The Heart of the Road" was also criticized for its loose and unlogical script when released in theaters, but as of the morning of February 15, the film has reached the revenue target of VND88 billion.
The revenue success of entertainment series has set a adversity for many films that are being invested heavily from budget to script. The two works of war - history are expected to be two blockbusters of Vietnamese films in 2025, "Tunnel: Sun in the dark" and "Red Rain".
Accordingly, geography: Sun in the dark by director Bui Thac Chuyen is expected to be released in early April 2025 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification. Red Rain by director Dang Thai Huyen (People's Army Cinema) will be released in theaters in September to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the August Revolution and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025).
The genre of historical war films has always been classified as a film with a small audience and few viewers. A series of projects with millions of USD invested in theaters could not sell tickets. In particular, war and historical film projects ordered by the state to be shown on holidays are always under public pressure about losses and no one watches them.
With The Geography: Sun in the Dark by director Bui Thac Chuyen and Red Rain by director Dang Thai Huyen, it is expected to make a difference in the war and historical film genre.
"geography: Sun in the dark" with socialized production budget is expected to be released in theaters on April 4. The film is a story about the brave battle of the campaign soldiers in the land of Cu Chi in 1967 when the war escalated.
Red Rain is a script revolving around the 81 days and nights of the burning red summer in 1972 in Quang Tri ancient citadel.
If both war films had a different storytelling style, if they touched the emotions of a large audience during important anniversaries, it could create an unprecedented revenue miracle.
It is time for war films and historical films to conquer audiences in their own way to reach the revenue target of hundreds of billions of VND.
