This year's film season, Ly Hai's "Lat mat" brand - which has been very successful with 7 parts competing with "Detective Kien," a historical, reconnaissance, action film from director Victor Vu.
"Flip side 8: Sun's arms" by Ly Hai started smoothly when it was arranged by societyV distributor for many screenings nationwide, significantly dominating the "rival" "Detective Kien".
Part 8 is a story revolving around a group of teenagers living in poor rural areas, passionate about art, innocent life with many youthful desires. Ly Hai continues to promote her strength in storytelling closely and emotionally, especially through music.
However, this script began to show old-fashionedness, forced plot and many illogical details, although the film still retained the sympathy thanks to the authenticity and positive spirit that the film conveyed.
As of noon on May 1, 2025, "Flip Side 8" earned 79 billion VND, a fairly good figure.
Meanwhile, Victor Vu's "Detective Kien" had a modest start with a screening capacity of only half compared to "Flip Side 8". But it was the quality of the film and good word-of-mouth effects that helped the film quickly accelerate. As of noon on May 1, the film has reached 68 billion VND - only 11 billion VND behind "Flip Side 8", and is on the way to a strong increase in revenue.
That said, it does not mean that "Detective Kien" has no minus points. Many viewers believe that some lines in the film are still very modern, not suitable for detective and historical costumes.
However, these two projects are still open to hundreds of billions, why?
Ly Hai and Victor Vu's brand
Victor Vu and Ly Hai are two long-time directors in the Vietnamese film industry. They have many hundred-billion-dong works and are considered serious, meticulous film directors...
Therefore, it was Ly Hai's name that guaranteed the box office and took the audience to the cinema.
Previously, Ly Hai had a series of hit Lat mat series, many of which surpassed the hundred billion mark such as Lat mat 6 earning 272 billion VND, Lat mat 7 earning 482 billion VND.
Meanwhile, Victor Vu has films such as Mat Biec with more than 180 billion VND, Cuoi Dinh cuoi 100 billion VND...
Certificates and competitors
During the holidays of April 30 and May 1, in addition to Vietnamese theaters, there are not too many competitors with Victor Vu's Investigator Kien and Li Hai's Lat mat 8.
In particular, Bui Thac Chuyen's film "The Geography" was released in theaters in early April, so it could no longer maintain its appeal. The project only has more than 400 screenings left and the revenue has decreased sharply despite releasing a special edition lasting more than 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, the only opponent of Victor Vu's Inspector Kien and Ly Hai's Lat mat 8 is "Thunder Squad" - a new blockbuster of Marvel, but this project has not had many breakthroughs due to low screening ratings.
Victor Vu's Inspector Kien and Ly Hai's Lat mat 8 are having quite good screenings. Ly Hai's film had more than 4,000 screenings on 1.5 while Victor Vu's project took more than 3,000 screenings.
Thus, Victor Vu's 2 projects "Detective Kien" and "Flip Side 8" by Ly Hai have many options for audiences to watch the film at different times, so it is easy to attract audiences.
The effect of the audience and the strengths of the two films
Although still controversial, the two projects still have highlights that make the audience interested and want to go to the cinema.
In which, "Flip Side 8" by Ly Hai is a family film, talking about the feelings of parents and the dreams of children. Therefore, the film is very suitable for audiences coming to the cinema during this holiday. Moreover, the film is also labeled T13 (audiences aged 13 and over), so the film can easily expand viewership.
"Detective Kien" is a rare detective film in Vietnamese cinema, so it also makes many audiences curious.
Predicting the revenue of the 2 films
With many advantages, Victor Vu's Investigator Kien, Ly Hai's Lat mat 8 are on the way to hundreds of billions in revenue after works such as The Four Guardians, The billion-dollar kiss, The paternal Family...
In particular, many film experts predict that Lat mat 8 can reach the 300 billion VND mark while tham tu Kien can also surpass the 200 billion VND mark in this year's holiday season.
