Foreign children's films dominate Vietnamese theaters

Big win on the "away field"

Statistics on Box Office Vietnam on May 29 show that there is not a single domestic film for children being shown in theaters. All children's films that are currently being shown or are about to be shown are foreign films.

Notably, the movie "Doraemon: Nobita and the Symphony of the Earth" - the 43rd movie in the Doraemon movie series - is topping the box office revenue chart with over 77 billion VND.

After less than 6 days of showing in Vietnam, the movie 'Doraemon: Nobita and the Symphony of the Earth' has earned over 77 billion VND in revenue.

The 43rd part is directed by Imai Kazuaki - who directed the two previous parts "Nobita and the Treasure Island" and "Nobita and the New Dinosaurs". The film was released in Japan on March 1, in Vietnam from May 24, and is the first part of the "Big Cat" brand with a music theme.

To prepare for a school concert, Nobita has to practice playing the flute, which he is not good at. His school friends, including Gian and Suneo, constantly tease Nobita.

However, a strange girl named Micca was captivated by that strange sound. Micca invited Nobita, Doraemon and their friends to the Farre Palace on the planet that uses energy from music.

With the new treasure, Doraemon and his friends help Micca find a “virtuoso” - a music master to save the Farre Palace. However, a mysterious and scary force is trying to erase music from the world .

The second place at the Vietnamese box office is the movie “Fat Cat with 10 Lives” with over 15 billion VND. The third place is still the Japanese movie “Haikyuu: The Scrapyard Battle” which opened on May 17 with a revenue of nearly 11 billion VND. This movie’s revenue last weekend alone reached over 1.4 billion VND with 808 screenings. Notably, the blockbuster movie “Kung Fu Panda 4” which opened on March 8 had a revenue of over 136 billion VND.

Not stopping at revenue, a series of foreign children's films are still "queuing" waiting for a release date while no domestic films are participating. Announcements from cinemas show that the Japanese film "Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window" will be released on May 31, and is predicted to "take over" the box office on the occasion of International Children's Day on June 1.

In addition, the most popular Hollywood animation brand in Vietnam will return in the new film “Despicable Me 4”, scheduled to be released on July 5. “Pigsy: The New World” from Taiwan will also appear this summer, along with a series of other famous films.

Summer is supposed to be a bumper season for domestic films for children. However, Vietnamese films have long lost ground at home, with few Vietnamese films appearing in box office positions and rankings.

According to incomplete statistics, animated film revenue accounts for about 12-15% of total theatrical film revenue. However, in the top 10 most popular films in Vietnamese theaters in 2023, apart from domestic films for adults, animated films are still not on the voting list.

Foreign works, such as “Elemental - Land of the Elements” (97 billion VND, the highest-grossing film in Vietnam), “Conan: Black Iron Submarine” (96 billion VND, the highest-grossing anime film ever in Vietnam), “Doraemon: Nobita and the Utopian Land” (84 billion VND, the highest-grossing in the series of animated films about intelligent robotic cats)…

Vietnam's animated film 'Wolfoo' was screened at the Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival in April 2024.

In 2023, the famous “made in Vietnam” movie “Wolfoo and the Mysterious Island” was released in cinemas nationwide. Although famous worldwide, the movie only had modest revenue domestically, reaching the target of 5 billion VND.

Vietnamese movies are waiting for "many small things to make a storm"

While foreign children’s films still dominate Vietnamese cinemas, the question is how can domestic films gain a foothold, viewers and revenue? This question has been asked by filmmakers for a long time, but so far, even “filling the gap” has not been possible.

This question was repeated in the discussion "The future of Vietnamese animation" of Xine House when animation producers asked the question: Vietnamese animation has developed both in human resources and techniques, but why can't it make a movie for theatrical release?

According to director Le Huy Anh, Vietnamese animation currently has a strong human resource with many young people participating in international animation projects, possessing world-class technical skills through cooperation with foreign countries. There are films that, if only considering the technical aspects, the audience cannot distinguish whether they are Vietnamese or international films.

However, the problem here is the concept and budget. Vietnamese animation producers still hold the concept that animation is only for children, while the world produces movies for adults as well. In terms of budget, a 10-minute animation costs up to hundreds of millions of dong.

The movie 'Kung fu Panda 4' brought the producer over 136 billion VND in revenue from Vietnam.

To apply the most advanced technology, billions of dollars must be invested. In the minimum conditions, it takes about 100 - 200 million VND to complete a 5 - 7 minute 3D animation. Therefore, although knowing that there is a big gap in the playing field, no one dares to risk spending billions of dollars to take risks.

However, director Trinh Lam Tung confidently believes that producers should be optimistic, as “Wolfoo” produced by young Vietnamese people was released by Sconnect in 2018 and is being broadcast on social networking and television platforms in many countries.

Recently, Sconnect has summarized that it has 4.25 billion monthly visits on YouTube and Facebook with 185 million subscriptions and followers, over 400 YouTube gold and silver buttons and 3 diamond buttons for "Wolfoo".

As a professional, clearly seeing the obstacles that cannot be overcome, director Trinh Lam Tung hopes that the Vietnamese animation industry will be viewed more objectively and fully.

This is an industry that will develop in the future along with the world trend, however it cannot be done in a day or two but needs time to implement, to fail and to mature.

“The Vietnamese animation brand is gradually being positioned, but to have a leap in the future, it is necessary to “collect the wind to make a storm”, many generations, many individuals need to connect and share. The animation and children's film market is truly a “gold mine”, but when we do not have enough potential, talent, techniques, technology... then it is understandable that foreign films monopolize the box office” - Director Trinh Lam Tung

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/phim-thieu-nhi-ngoai-doc-chiem-rap-viet-post384731.html