A scene in Hai Phượng , a production by movie star and film producer Ngô Thanh Vân of HCM City. The action film earned high ticket sales, around VNĐ200 billion ($8.6 million), one month after its release in Việt Nam in March. Photo VAA Entertainment

By Thu Anh

HCM CTY Fourteen Vietnamese films earned around VNĐ715 billion (US$30.7) in ticket sales in the first five months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent, according to CGV Cinemas Việt Nam.  

Private film companies in HCM City sunk large amounts of money into movies for release during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday, which began in January.

Producer Nhất Trung’s Cua Lại Vợ Bầu (Love Again) raked in more than VNĐ108.9 billion ($4.7 million) in ticket sales in three weeks beginning in late January. Nearly 1.3 million tickets were sold.

A scene from movei Cua Lại Vợ Bầu. Photo vnreview.vn

The film was among three top hits, including Vietnamese comedy Trạng Quỳnh (Dr Quỳnh) and DreamWorks animation How To Train Your Dragon - The Hidden World, which earned the most profits during the Tết holiday.

While Trạng Quỳnh earned nearly VNĐ70 billion ($3 million) in just 10 days after release in January, sales for How To Train Your Dragon - The Hidden World were VNĐ65 billion ($2.8 million). 

In March, Hai Phượng (Furie), the latest action film produced by and starring Ngô Thanh Vân, known as Veronica Ngo, turned out to be a huge hit.

In the film, Vân plays Hai Phượng, a former gangster living a quiet life in the countryside with her daughter. Things change when the girl is kidnapped and Phượng begins a journey to save her daughter.

The film was distributed in the US by Well Go USA Entertainment. It was released in 600 cinemas in cities such as Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, San Jose, Portland, Seattle and New York.

In Việt Nam, Hai Phượng earned high ticket sales, around VNĐ200 billion ($8.6 million), within a month after its release.

The film is also distributed on Netflix and will be released in China

The other big hit is Lật Mặt- Nhà Có Khách (Face Off-The Visitor) by producer Lý Hải. The crime comedy earned VNĐ115 billion ($4.9 million) in April.

“The box office figures of Vietnamese films show that the industry has developed rapidly and a year of good harvest is coming. The ticket sales of Vietnamese films are expected to account 30 per cent of the market this year,” said a representative of CJV Cinemas Việt Nam.

Around 25 Vietnamese films will be released this year, according the Department of Cinematography. 

Five Vietnamese films produced by HCM City studios are scheduled to be in cinemas this summer.

The highlighted work is Mắt Biếc, a production by Vietnamese-American director Victor Vũ. 

Mắt Biếc tells the love story of Ngạn, a rural boy from Quảng Nam Province, and his childhood friend, Hà Lan, during school time.   

Lan turns to love a rich man, but she is betrayed. Ngạn is still standing aside Lan.

The film is based on a novel of the same name written by best-selling children’s author Nguyễn Nhật Ánh.

The book Mắt Biếc  was published in 1990 and became a best-seller. It has been reprinted several times by Trẻ (Youth) Publishing House.

“I worked on writer Ánh’s Mắt Biếc before filming. I hope my film will take audiences back to their childhood,” said the film’s director Vũ, a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in US.

Mắt Biếc is produced by Galaxy Studio, one of the country’s leading private film companies. — VNS