Summer for Vietnamese movies: challenges and potentials

07:28' 28/04/2007 (GMT+7)
A scene from The Rebel.VietNamNet Bridge - After great efforts, the Vietnamese cinema market has somehow developed its own Tet movie season. And local moviemakers are now starting to think about a summer for movies.
Summer movie dream
In countries with a developed cinema industry, there are often many movie seasons throughout the year, and the most bustling of them is the summer and New Year.
After great efforts, the Vietnamese cinema market has somehow developed its own Tet movie season, though the quality of Tet films is still open to debate. And Vietnamese moviemakers are now starting to think about a summer season for movies.
Two years ago, with 39 Degrees of Love and Heart Campaign, Vietnamese producers were able to elbow themselves into the summer market crowded with blockbuster movies from Hollywood, Hong Kong, or China.
But these two pioneer works were revenue disasters. Heart Campaign only attracted a limited number of audiences in the north. As for 39 Degrees of Love, its failure was mostly due to low technical quality.
Yet, despite these failures and the fact the 2006 summer was given back to foreign movies, the dream of developing a summer for Vietnamese movies has gone on.
A bustling season for 2007
Throwing an impressive debut for The Rebel on April 20 at Galaxy Nguyen Trai in HCM City, Chanh Phuong Film didn’t just want to show off its “forces” but also tried to kick off a summer that may well be the first summer for Vietnamese movies.
Playing in theatres for one month, from April 27 to May 27, and attracting a great deal of attention from the media, The Rebel is expected to earn enough to cover its US$2 million production cost at least.
As of May 18, another Vietnamese movie with the inclusion of many “foreign elements” will also make its debut: Saigon Eclipse. The film is directed by overseas Vietnamese Othello Khanh, and casts Vietnamese star Truong Ngoc Anh, Vietnamese French Marjolaine Bui and Daniel You, Hong Kong actor Joseph Chang Tseng and Singaporean star Tran Chi Tai, not to mention Vietnamese Americans Tri Nguyen and Dustin Nguyen. Saigon Eclipse is another expensive US$1.3million product meeting Hollywood standards.
Phuoc Sang Film’s horror movie Ms.Ten is also expected to hit theatres in the upcoming summer. Since this is a joint product of a Vietnamese production company and the Korean producer Billy Pictures, there are great expectations for the success of Ms.Ten.
Other horror projects by Chanh Phuong Film, Mysterious House and Ghost Stream, will also play in theatres at the end of June.
Though more quiet than private companies, state-owned film studios will also have their own summer contributions. After the first work named Letter Road, which was highly praised by critics, young director Bui Tuan Dung will officially enter the cinema market in July with Death Dance produced by Vietnam Film and Thien Ngan Company. And on May 13, Giai Phong Film plans to release a reality-based comedy called Price for a God.
A fierce battle
Though there will be many more high-quality Vietnamese movies for this summer, they will be far from dominating the summer cinema market since Korean and American hits like My Wife Is A Gangster 3, Wild hogs, the Oscar-winning The Departed, Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will also be screened.
Vietnamese cinema-goers are still in the habit of seeking famous foreign movies to watch in the summer. Thus, it seems that high-quality is the only weapon Vietnamese movies can use to win back the audiences long lost to overseas products.
(Source: Tuoi Tre)
07:28' 28/04/2007 (GMT+7)
A scene from The Rebel.VietNamNet Bridge - After great efforts, the Vietnamese cinema market has somehow developed its own Tet movie season. And local moviemakers are now starting to think about a summer for movies.
Summer movie dream
In countries with a developed cinema industry, there are often many movie seasons throughout the year, and the most bustling of them is the summer and New Year.
After great efforts, the Vietnamese cinema market has somehow developed its own Tet movie season, though the quality of Tet films is still open to debate. And Vietnamese moviemakers are now starting to think about a summer season for movies.
Two years ago, with 39 Degrees of Love and Heart Campaign, Vietnamese producers were able to elbow themselves into the summer market crowded with blockbuster movies from Hollywood, Hong Kong, or China.
But these two pioneer works were revenue disasters. Heart Campaign only attracted a limited number of audiences in the north. As for 39 Degrees of Love, its failure was mostly due to low technical quality.
Yet, despite these failures and the fact the 2006 summer was given back to foreign movies, the dream of developing a summer for Vietnamese movies has gone on.
A bustling season for 2007
Throwing an impressive debut for The Rebel on April 20 at Galaxy Nguyen Trai in HCM City, Chanh Phuong Film didn’t just want to show off its “forces” but also tried to kick off a summer that may well be the first summer for Vietnamese movies.
Playing in theatres for one month, from April 27 to May 27, and attracting a great deal of attention from the media, The Rebel is expected to earn enough to cover its US$2 million production cost at least.
As of May 18, another Vietnamese movie with the inclusion of many “foreign elements” will also make its debut: Saigon Eclipse. The film is directed by overseas Vietnamese Othello Khanh, and casts Vietnamese star Truong Ngoc Anh, Vietnamese French Marjolaine Bui and Daniel You, Hong Kong actor Joseph Chang Tseng and Singaporean star Tran Chi Tai, not to mention Vietnamese Americans Tri Nguyen and Dustin Nguyen. Saigon Eclipse is another expensive US$1.3million product meeting Hollywood standards.
Phuoc Sang Film’s horror movie Ms.Ten is also expected to hit theatres in the upcoming summer. Since this is a joint product of a Vietnamese production company and the Korean producer Billy Pictures, there are great expectations for the success of Ms.Ten.
Other horror projects by Chanh Phuong Film, Mysterious House and Ghost Stream, will also play in theatres at the end of June.
Though more quiet than private companies, state-owned film studios will also have their own summer contributions. After the first work named Letter Road, which was highly praised by critics, young director Bui Tuan Dung will officially enter the cinema market in July with Death Dance produced by Vietnam Film and Thien Ngan Company. And on May 13, Giai Phong Film plans to release a reality-based comedy called Price for a God.
A fierce battle
Though there will be many more high-quality Vietnamese movies for this summer, they will be far from dominating the summer cinema market since Korean and American hits like My Wife Is A Gangster 3, Wild hogs, the Oscar-winning The Departed, Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will also be screened.
Vietnamese cinema-goers are still in the habit of seeking famous foreign movies to watch in the summer. Thus, it seems that high-quality is the only weapon Vietnamese movies can use to win back the audiences long lost to overseas products.
(Source: Tuoi Tre)