Unpredictable box office falls
Premiering at the end of June, the Vietnamese film "The Most Beautiful Summer" hit theaters with much promise because the film takes on the theme of school youth, which is said to be lacking on the screen. Previously, with this same topic, the movie "Brilliant May" had positive revenue.
“The Most Beautiful Summer” recreates the most beautiful and memorable years of student life and the eternal regrets of adulthood, which everyone can encounter. The film brings together a cast of famous actors such as People's Artist Viet Anh, Meritorious Artists Cong Ninh, Cong Duong, Tran Nghia, Khanh Van... However, the film only earned a dismal revenue of more than 4 billion VND when it left theaters.
Since the beginning of 2024, in addition to Tran Thanh earning a revenue of more than 500 billion VND with "Mai", Ly Hai reached 482 billion VND with "Face Off 7: One Wish", the remaining films all lost miserably. The Vietnamese film market is drawn according to the formula "Tran Thanh, Ly Hai and the rest".
Before "The Most Beautiful Summer", the loss-making Vietnamese films include Claws (collected 3.8 billion VND), Murder on the 4th Floor (collected 1.9 billion VND), The Price of Happiness (collected 26 billion VND). VND)... at the peak of "Fragile Flower" which only earned VND 430 million, making it one of the Vietnamese films with the lowest revenue in box office history.
Most Vietnamese films have suffered losses in recent years, however, facing box office failure in 2024, producers still expressed surprise, even "shock" and called for help like Mai Thu Huyen. , Xuan Lan.
Director Le Thanh Son, when bringing "Claws" to theaters, had high expectations. He called this a potential project because it exploited the theme of survival - which is very rare on Vietnamese screens. Le Thanh Son once won big with the movie "I'm not 18 yet". When it was released in theaters, "I'm not 18" set a sales record, surprising the filmmaking world.
Le Thanh Son spent 7 years cultivating a script with a new topic for "Claws", so the failure of "Claws" surprised this director.
When Mai Thu Huyen brought "Fragile Flower" to theaters, she also expected the film to reach the milestone of hundreds of billions in revenue, so when the film failed to sell tickets, it became a shock to the producer. Film critics said that Mai Thu Huyen was "overconfident" when making a film with very old thinking and "offering it" to a market that has changed so much.
The threat of online movie platforms
Director Nguyen Quang Dung assessed that after the pandemic, the audience's movie watching habits have changed greatly. “In recent years we can witness the explosive growth of online movie platforms. On these platforms, there are a full range of film genres from many countries, from movies to series, audiences are spoiled for choice. They just need to stay at home to watch the movies they like. Therefore, attracting audiences to theaters, which is already difficult, is now even more difficult."
According to director Nguyen Quang Dung, for a film project to reach hundreds of billions in revenue depends on many factors and become increasingly unpredictable.
Actor Hua Vi Van also affirmed: "Online movie platforms are developing strongly, bringing many new options to the audience. Audience tastes are also becoming increasingly unpredictable. Now, they have come into contact with many of the world's most developed cinemas. The audience's taste in watching movies and watching movies has also changed greatly."
When audience tastes have gone beyond the control of filmmakers, many projects have unexpectedly "fallen" at the box office.
Ngo Thanh Van won big with "Hai Phuong", the film earned a revenue of 200 billion VND. However, with the same action genre, even the topic, the content is rated better, the image is more eye-catching than "Hai Phuong", but "Thanh Soi - Wild Chrysanthemum in the Night" is a failure that itself Ngo Thanh Van was also unpredictable.
The development of online movie platforms not only changes movie viewing habits, but also changes the audience's tastes and ability to perceive cinematic works. Therefore, Vietnamese films are facing greater challenges than ever on the journey to bring audiences to theaters.
