'The Four Revengeful Heroes' Reaches 227 Billion VND - Did Tran Thanh 'Manipulate' the Lunar New Year Film Market?

As of the morning of February 4th, Tran Thanh's "The Four Revengeful Ones" had grossed 227 billion VND, while "The Billion-Dollar Kiss" earned 61 billion VND, and "Falling in Love with My Best Friend" lagged far behind with only 13 billion VND.

In all three films, Tran Thanh directed, produced, and acted in "The Four Vengeful Spirits," while also investing in "Falling in Love with My Best Friend." In fact, "The Four Vengeful Spirits" has grossed more than 17 times more than "Falling in Love with My Best Friend."

"Falling in Love with My Best Friend" marks the next collaboration between director Nguyen Quang Dung and Tran Thanh following "Southern Forest Land" in 2024.

In "Falling in Love with My Best Friend," Nguyen Quang Dung teamed up with Diep The Vinh to direct. He also chose Kaity Nguyen as the female lead, a safe option given their previous success in "Blood Moon Party."

Director Nguyen Quang Dung has long been known for his Midas touch with remake projects. His film "Blood Moon Party" was released amidst the complicated COVID-19 pandemic, with cinemas constantly closed and audiences wary of gathering in public places like movie theaters. Yet, "Blood Moon Party" unexpectedly became a box office hit and received widespread praise.

"Glorious May" is also considered another successful remake by Nguyen Quang Dung, having grossed 85 billion VND after nearly a month of release in 2018.

However, the "miracle" and the Midas touch didn't happen for "Falling in Love with My Best Friend." Director Nguyen Quang Dung suffered a box office failure with this remake about a love triangle during this year's Lunar New Year film season. With only 13 billion VND earned so far, the path to 100 billion VND for "Falling in Love with My Best Friend" is still a long way off.

The presence of Tran Thanh in the production team seems unable to save "Falling in Love with My Best Friend" this Lunar New Year film season. Public opinion has always questioned the dominance and "manipulation" of Tran Thanh's name in the Lunar New Year film market, but "Falling in Love with My Best Friend" is being left far behind.

"The Four Revengeful Ones" is a purely entertaining film; while not praised for its script, one can still see the calculated effort and "optimization" of Tran Thanh's appeal for this project.

The "Four Revengeful Guys" cast features cameo appearances and soundtrack performances by a host of popular "Brothers Saying Hi" such as Quân AP, Hùng Huỳnh, Erik, Captain Boy… This group of "Brothers Saying Hi" also graced the red carpet at the film's premiere, enthusiastically promoting the work for Trấn Thành.

The film's appeal is further enhanced by the participation of stunning new faces, including two beauty queens, Tran Tieu Vy and Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen, along with Quoc Anh.

The Lunar New Year holiday, with its long break, is always the biggest business season of the year for Vietnamese films. Releasing films during the Lunar New Year has helped many projects achieve great success. But of course, no one has achieved as much as Tran Thanh.

As director Bui Tuan Dung said, "Tran Thanh himself is already a personal brand that attracts audiences. Films directed by other directors that feature Tran Thanh are guaranteed to generate huge revenue. Tran Thanh is a star, a name that has established itself in many fields, and his fan base is much larger than that of other names."

Therefore, the "Tran Thanh effect" and "Tran Thanh brand" have been a huge advantage when Tran Thanh brings his films to theaters. In addition, shrewd calculations regarding the cast, the promotional process, and the controversies on social media forums... are enough to help Tran Thanh's films achieve great success.

With a project that required considerable effort, Thu Trang is also demonstrating that she has the potential to reach hundreds of billions of dong in revenue with "The Billion-Dollar Kiss".