HCM CITY The action comedy Lật Mặt: 48H (Face Off: 48 Hours), the fifth sequel of Lật Mặt series, will be postponed until February 2021. 

Lý Hải, the film’s producer, screenwriter and director, said: “Although the postponement will cause a loss, audiences’ safety and health are more important.”

He added that they were in post-production of the film, which was planned to be released on April 30.

Lật Mặt: 48H is set in the Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta region where a family tries to escape from a gang that is chasing them. 

“The film honours family love,” said Hải, 52, who runs Lý Hải Production Studio in District 10.

He asked veteran actors Võ Thành Tâm, Huỳnh Đông and Ốc Thanh Vân to play the main roles.

Fight choreographers Hải Bùi of Việt Nam and Kim Chung Min of South Korea also took part in the film.

Hải said the film contains thrilling action scenes filmed at floating markets, and on boats and ferries.

“The film will be different from previous Vietnamese action films,” said Hải, who plans to show the film in the US and Australia after its release in Việt Nam.

Hải was a well-known singer in the 1990s for his pop songs, but has achieved great success as film producer and director of the series Lật Mặt.

The series includes Lật Mặt in 2015, Lật Mặt: Phim Trường (Face Off: Film Studio), 2016, and Lật Mặt: Ba Chàng Khuyết (Face Off: Three Disabled Men), 2018.

All three action comedies were successful, with earnings of VNĐ70 billion ($3 million), VNĐ80 billion ($3.43 million) and VNĐ85.5 billion ($3.66 million), respectively.

The fourth sequel of Hải’s series was a horror comedy Lật Mặt: Nhà Có Khách (Face Off: The Walking Guests) in 2019, eanring nearly VNĐ 120 billion ($5.1 million).

It was screened in the US and Australia. VNS