A scene from "Mai" directed by comedian Tran Than. (Photo: thanhnien.vn) Hanoi (VNA) – Deadline.com, a US premiernews source covering the business of entertainment, including movies,television, online, digital and related areas, has described Vietnam as one ofAsia’s fastest-growing cinema markets.
In an article entitled “How Vietnam Has Become One Of Asia’s Fastest Growing Markets With New Multiplexes, A Movie-Hungry Audience & Vibrant Local Film Biz” published on February 23, Liz Shackleton wrote that some Vietnamese film-makers shared their views to draw a positive brightoutlook for Vietnam’s film industry.
According to the article, although the previouslystate-run industry only opened its doors 10-15 years ago, box office wasgrowing at a steady clip of 10% annually before the pandemic, overtakingThailand, which has a much more developed and longer-established film industry.
The Lunar New Year is a key box office period in severalAsian territories, but nowhere was it more hotly contested this year than inVietnam, where several local, Japanese and Hollywood movies were slugging itover the week-long holidays (February 9-15), it said.
Tran Thanh‘s Mai, a romantic drama that delves into the psychologyof its female protagonist, was the clear winner — at the time of writing it wastopping the box office with a haul of 400 billion VND (16.4 million USD).Produced by Tran Thanh Town and CJ HK Entertainment, a joint venture between the Republic of Korea’s CJ ENM andlocal outfit HKFilm, the film has the potential to break the record set by TranThanh’s own The House of No Man, released this time last year, which is Vietnam’shighest ever grossing film with 476 billion VND (19.4 million USD).
Last year, Vietnam’s box office reached 150 millionUSD, or around 90% of pre-pandemic levels, from a total of 1,100 screens. Notbad for a market that in 2010 only had 90 screens and annual revenue of lessthan 15 million USD.
The growth is due to a few factors, but one of thebiggest is the multiplex building programmes undertaken by Korean exhibitors CJCGV and Lotte Cinema, along with local studios Galaxy Cinema and BHD Star Cineplex, the site said.
Recently, Vietnam has also seen the emergence of hipnew cinema chains, such as Beta Cinemas and Cinestar, which offer lower ticket pricesaimed at students and middle-income cinema-goers.
Also driving the market is a lively local productionsector that is experimenting with new genres and making a wider range of films - again an achievement considering that private companies were only allowed tostart producing in the mid-2000s.
The RoK’s CJ ENM and Lotte are also active in financingand producing Vietnamese-language movies - CJ with films such as Mai and The House Of No Man and Lotte with titles including Le Van Kiet’s2019 action film Furie and Victor Vu’s recent period drama The Last Wife.
“It’s a very young audience - we estimate that up to80% are under the age of 29,” said CJ HK Distribution Supervisor Nguyen TuanLinh.
“So that age group is dictating the tastes of themarket: Local romance, comedy and horror as well as movies from the RoK, Thailandand Indonesia.”
Justin Kim, CJ ENM’s Head of International FilmProduction, added that it’s also a demanding and unforgiving audience: “They’re very active on social media, especiallyTikTok and Instagram, and will react quickly if they think the quality of amovie is not so good.”/.
