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 currently being shown or 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 Earth Symphony' has earned over 77 billion VND in revenue.
The 43rd installment is directed by Imai Kazuaki, who directed the previous two installments, “Nobita and the Treasure Island” and “Nobita and the New Dinosaurs.” The film premiered in Japan on March 1 and in Vietnam from May 24. It is the first installment of the “Big Cat” franchise with a music theme.
To prepare for a school concert, Nobita has to practice playing the flute, which he is not good at. His friends at school, including Jaian 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 his new gadget, Doraemon and his friends help Micca find a “virtuoso” - a music master - to save the Farre Palace. However, a mysterious and terrifying 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 “Haikyu: The Scrapyard Battle” which premiered on May 17 with a revenue of nearly 11 billion VND. The revenue of this movie last weekend alone reached over 1.4 billion with 808 screenings. Notably, the previous blockbuster movie “Kung Fu Panda 4” premiered on March 8 with a revenue of over 136 billion VND.
Not stopping at revenue, a series of foreign children's films are still "queuing up" 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 "dethrone" the box office on 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 blockbusters.
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 Ideal Land” (84 billion VND, the highest-grossing in the series of animated films about intelligent robotic cats)…
Vietnamese 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 theaters nationwide. Although famous worldwide, the movie only had modest revenue domestically, reaching 5 billion VND.
Vietnamese movies waiting for "many small things 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 conversation "The future of Vietnamese animation" by 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 theaters?
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 looking at the technique, 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 films 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. Under minimum conditions, it takes about 100 - 200 million VND to complete a 5 - 7 minute 3D animation film. Therefore, although knowing that there is a big gap in the playing field, no one dares to risk spending billions 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 media and television platforms in many countries.
Recently, Sconnect has reported 4.25 billion monthly visits on YouTube and Facebook with 185 million subscribers 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 it takes time to implement, to fail and to mature.
“The Vietnamese animation brand is gradually being positioned, but to have a leap forward 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
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