Hundred billion directors compete
Tran Thanh as a director has continuously reaped "sweet fruits", typically the film "Bo Gia" (co-directed with Vu Ngoc Dang) earned 427 billion VND, "Nha Ba Nu" earned 475 billion VND and "Mai" with more than 520 billion VND. This achievement helped Tran Thanh become the first "thousand-billion director" of the Vietnamese film market.
Notably, most of the films Tran Thanh directed were Tet films. Riding on the momentum, for Tet 2025, Tran Thanh made the film "The Four Protectors", gathering actors such as Le Giang, Huynh Uyen An, Le Duong Bao Lam...
As expected, "The Four Guardians" is his next billion-dollar film as the project has just set a record as a Vietnamese film earning 100 billion VND in just 2.5 days of official release.
Tran Thanh has many advantages (media, appeal, reputation, large young audience...), so although "The Four Guardians" is currently receiving mixed opinions, many experts predict that with the current ticket sales rate, the film could reach about 500 - 600 billion VND.
Competing with Tran Thanh in the 2025 Tet film season is the billion-dollar director Nguyen Quang Dung. Although he does not have projects that reach the huge figure of 520 billion like Tran Thanh's "Mai", Nguyen Quang Dung still has his own strengths. He is quite good at remake projects, including the film "Blood Moon Party" which earned more than 172 billion VND.
Nguyen Quang Dung joined the Tet film race when he and Diep The Vinh sat in the director's chair of "Love by mistake for a best friend" - a remake of a Thai work, starring Kaity Nguyen.
However, up to now, Nguyen Quang Dung's film has been a bit weak at the box office. The project "Love by mistake for a close friend" has not been scheduled for many screenings. As of the afternoon of February 1, the film has been scheduled for 930 screenings and has earned more than 7.4 billion VND.
And the faces of the hundred billion actors
Thu Trang takes on the role of actress, director, and producer of "Billion Dollar Kiss". This work is considered Thu Trang's "all-in" after more than 20 years in the profession when she was both producer and actress.
Thu Trang is inherently a box office star as she has had many films that grossed over a hundred billion such as: "Chi Muoi Ba - 3 days of life and death", "Blood Moon Party"...
She is also a name that guarantees the box office when over the years, the projects she has acted in have had quite good revenue. The project "Billion Dollar Kiss" is currently in the top 2 of the Tet box office revenue. As of the afternoon of February 1, the film has brought in more than 24 billion VND.
On the side of the "Four Guardians", besides Tran Thanh, Le Giang and Uyen An are also hundred billion stars. Among them, Le Giang is quite familiar to the audience in projects with huge revenue such as: "Nha Ba Nu", "Bo Gia", "Lam Rich with Ma"... Meanwhile, Uyen An plays in "Mai", "Nha Ba Nu" with equally high revenue.
"Love by mistake best friend" stars Kaity Nguyen - a young star with many hundred billion dong projects at the Vietnamese box office. Kaity Nguyen once created a fever with "Em chua 18" - a movie that brought in revenue of 180 billion dong.
This year, it can be said that all the films were "molded" by directors, names that have guaranteed box office success for many years.
However, the box office race was soon over when "The Four Guardians" overwhelmed the remaining Tet films, taking up nearly 6,000 screenings. The film's daily revenue also surpassed other projects, bringing in about 40 billion VND per day.
In second place is "The Billionaire Kiss" which brings in about 5 - 7 billion VND in revenue per day. The film "Love by mistake for a best friend" is ranked lowest among the 3 Vietnamese Tet films this year. Nguyen Quang Dung's project is even ranked behind the foreign film "Paddington: The Bear's Journey".
