Having made his mark with many high-grossing projects, Nguyen Quang Dung is now facing a setback as his two most recent works failed to create a positive effect.
The box office race for Tet 2025 is fierce not only because of Tran Thanh and Thu Trang. Before that, Love the wrong best friend The duo Nguyen Quang Dung/Diep The Vinh is also predicted to be a formidable opponent.
Nguyen Quang Dung used to be a leading name in Vietnamese cinema before Tran Thanh and Ly Hai came to the scene. He has many hundred billion dong films, even setting box office milestones many times. Not to mention, his partner - Diep The Vinh - is also a famous DOP (director of photography), who has created the visuals of many films. Tomorrow (2024) , Godfather (2021), Blood Moon Party (2020)...
However, the handshake of two big names did not bring the expected results. Love the wrong best friend completely outclassed in the Tet film race, when ticket sales were many times lower than the two competitors. As for Nguyen Quang Dung, the above failure can be considered a big step back, because this is the second consecutive time his films have not created a positive effect. The previous work of the male director - Southern Forest Land (2023) - has been involved in many controversies.
Make a mark with remake/adaptation movies
At the age of 46, Nguyen Quang Dung has had a relatively large film career. He took charge of his first projects when he was only in his twenties, right when the Vietnamese film market was just starting to develop. At one point, Nguyen Quang Dung owned 3/6 of the highest-grossing Vietnamese films of all time (2013).
Besides the box office records of the past decade, Nguyen Quang Dung is also remembered as a filmmaker associated with remakes/adaptations. Except Nostalgic Night (2017) received mixed reviews, but his projects in the above direction were both successful in terms of revenue and impressive in terms of quality. May the year be glorious (2018) and Blood Moon Party (2020) are two typical representatives.
Release date, May the year be glorious surprised both the audience and observers, even considering this a hit in Nguyen Quang Dung's career. Because before that, the male director was going through a period of stagnation when three consecutive works - Beauty Scheme (2013), Superman X (2015) and Nostalgic Night - are not highly rated.
May the year be glorious Youth theme, is a Vietnamese version of Sunny (2011) - a film that once caused a fever in Korea. The success of the project came from Nguyen Quang Dung's successful use of the script framework that had proven its appeal, combined with valuable Vietnamese details. The film became a phenomenon at the Vietnamese box office in 2018 with 85 billion in revenue.
Two years later, Nguyen Quang Dung once again made a strong impression on Blood Moon Party . Remake of Perfect strangers (2016) of Italian cinema, but the content is closely following the version Intimate strangers (2018) of Korea ( Perfect strangers There are more than 20 remakes).
Even , Blood Moon Party is also considered the most successful work of Nguyen Quang Dung's career. The film is highly appreciated by observers for its quality, especially in the way the story is told and the acting of the cast. The impressive box office performance also reflects the audience's love for the work. Blood Moon Party in Pocket 175 billion VND , becoming the highest-grossing Vietnamese film of 2020.
Before making his mark with remakes/adaptations, Nguyen Quang Dung faced a lot of skepticism from audiences and observers. This change in direction opened a completely new chapter in the director's career.
The fall of Nguyen Quang Dung
Joining the 2025 Tet film race, Nguyen Quang Dung remains loyal to the remake filmmaking direction, when Vietnamizing blockbusters. Friend Zone (2019) once caused a fever at the Thai box office.
The director also kept the same formula that helped him succeed with previous remakes. That is, sticking closely to the original, not changing important details and only adding elements with Vietnamese colors. Before that, May the year be glorious and Blood Moon Party It is also said to be not much different from the original.
However, with Loving the wrong best friend , the above formula no longer helps Nguyen Quang Dung create something special at the box office.
In the two previous successful works, while May the year be glorious own a solid script Blood Moon Party impresses again with its talented cast. With Love the wrong best friend, The film possesses neither of these elements.
In fact, the script Friend Zone not too impressive. The most attractive point of the film lies in the explosive chemistry between the main actors Naphat Siangsomboon and Baifern Pimchanok. However, Kaity Nguyen and Tran Ngoc Vang have not shown the same smooth, graceful interaction. Love the wrong best friend thus lacking the uniqueness needed to attract audiences.
Currently, the work has only earned more than 18 billion VND , with a small number of screenings and few tickets sold. The film also did not create discussion on social networks. At the current rate of making money, Love the wrong best friend almost no chance of hitting the revenue mark 50 billion VND , facing a very high risk of loss.
With the Love the wrong best friend Losing ground at the box office, Nguyen Quang Dung had two consecutive works that failed to create a positive effect. Before that, Southern Forest Land The male director's film was involved in a huge wave of controversy, so the film's revenue was not as expected.
Specifically, the project adapted from the novel by writer Doan Gioi ended its journey in theaters with 140 billion VND . However, according to the crew, the above figure is just enough to "make a small profit", because the production cost is up to several million USD.
In fact, the quality of Southern Forest Land still at a relatively stable level. Although it has not recreated the elements that made the TV version successful, in return, the film scores points thanks to its entertainment value, with attractive and accessible details. However, due to the lack of skill in script and costume construction, Nguyen Quang Dung had a relatively unfortunate fall in the largest project of his career.
In the 2020s, Vietnamese cinema witnessed the strong rise of new names. In just a few years, Tran Thanh and Ly Hai - from amateur filmmakers - became trillion-dollar directors. Nguyen Quang Dung, perhaps more than anyone, understands this rapid transition, as his latest work also lost to a rookie: Thu Trang.
5 years, 2 works, but both returned results contrary to expectations. It is easy to see that Nguyen Quang Dung's career seems to be showing signs of slowing down. Now, the male director really needs a big hit to regain his glory, similar to the way he revived his career with May the year be glorious many years ago
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