According to box office statistics until the afternoon of February 22, the movie "Huyen Tinh Da Trach" only achieved about 421.7 million VND in accumulated revenue since its release. On February 22 alone, the movie grossed about 35.2 million VND, selling 326 tickets on only 7 screenings. This number shows that the film's presence in theaters is almost very limited, and also reflects the weak attraction to audiences during the peak Tet season.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese films released during Tet at the same time still maintain high revenue levels. The movie "Thỏ ơi!!" grossed about 26.2 billion VND on February 22 with more than 274,000 tickets in more than 4,300 screenings. The movie "Nhà ba tôi một phòng" grossed about 9.1 billion VND, "Báu vật trời cho" grossed about 6.1 billion VND, and "Mùi phở" also grossed about 2.6 billion VND per day. Compared to these figures, the revenue of the historical drama "Huyền tình dạ trạch" is only a very small part, showing a clear gap between the film and the leading group.
The fact that a Vietnamese film falls into a situation of low revenue during Tet - a time considered the "golden season" of cinema - surprises many people. In fact, Tet is usually the period when most audiences go to theaters in the year, but it also means a very high level of competition. Films with strong communication strategies, familiar cast or easy-to-reach content often prevail, while smaller works are easily overshadowed in terms of screenings and recognition.
Huyen Tinh Da Trach" belongs to the historical - romantic genre, exploiting the love story of Chu Dong Tu - Tien Dung, and at the same time recreating the life of ancient Vietnamese residents along the Red River during the Hung Kings era. The film aims to combine historical and cultural elements with legendary love stories, a different direction compared to Tet films that focus on comedy or family.
However, this difference is not enough to create attraction. Some opinions suggest that the film lacks a systematic promotion strategy before going to theaters, making the level of recognition low from the beginning. When the media is not strong enough, audiences easily prioritize choosing films that are "covering" social networks or introduced by friends.
In addition, low screenings also directly affect revenue. When a film only has a few screenings per day, the opportunity to reach audiences will decrease significantly, creating a loop: few viewers - screenings continue to be cut, revenue decreases even more. In the Tet movie season, where the screening schedule usually prioritizes good-grossing works, weak opening films are very difficult to reverse the situation.
This reality shows that the Vietnamese Tet film market is increasingly clearly differentiated. Some films can achieve hundreds of billions of VND in revenue, while other films almost do not make an impression. The large gap between works reflects fierce competition, while also posing higher requirements for distribution strategies, media and selection of release dates.
The case of the movie "Huyen Tinh Da Trach" also shows that the element of novel topic alone is not enough to guarantee box office success. In the context that audiences during Tet often prioritize light, easy-to-reach entertainment works, a movie without an effective promotion strategy or strong enough highlights will easily sink in the "sea" of choices.
