What does Thu Trang have to compete with Tran Thanh?

"The Billion Dollar Kiss" marks Thu Trang's first time directing a movie. However, the actress is quite confident in showing the work during Tet, not afraid of clashing with two other projects associated with Tran Thanh's name.

The Lunar New Year 2025 movie race is hotter than ever. Of the three movies that have set release dates, two are projects by Tran Thanh behind: One is The Guardian Quartet as director and actor, two is Love the wrong best friend as a producer.

Remaining movies Billionaire Kiss by Thu Trang Director. The work has not received as much attention as Tran Thanh's two projects, but still creates curiosity thanks to its famous cast.

Thu Trang changed direction

Thu Trang is not a strange name in Vietnamese cinema. The actress born in 1984 is famous for many high-grossing films at the box office such as I am your grandmother (2015), Blood Moon Party (2020), Sister Thirteen: 3 days of life and death (2020)…

She has also worked as a producer for many film projects, but this is her first time trying her hand at directing.

Thu Trang first sat in the director's chair with Billion Dollar Kiss.

Main character in Billionaire Kiss is a bread seller Van (Doan Thien An). After a small accident, she accidentally met two boys Tu Henry (Ma Ran Do) and Nhat Quang (Le Xuan Tien). Both have different personalities but are the ideal models of many girls.

Tu Henry is introduced as a famous playboy, inheriting a tourism corporation from his late father. Nhat Quang is not far behind: Graduated from Harvard University, top 10 young entrepreneurs and owns a popular supermarket chain.

They all have special feelings for Van, creating a complicated but equally interesting love triangle.

With her first project, Thu Trang has been quite quiet. The film was introduced late, and its release date for Tet was later than other works.

The actress has not rested at all but has been quite active during the past time. Last year, Thu Trang starred with Thai Hoa in The Loquat is looking for a husband. win Best Actress at the Golden Kite Awards 2023.

This year, she continues to appear with the stars in The Bride of a Noble Family , helped the film earn more than 73 billion VND.

The actress is quite confident in bringing her brainchild to theaters during the Tet holiday, not afraid to compete with experienced colleagues. Her opponents this time are not only Tran Thanh but also two famous directors, Nguyen Quang Dung and Diep The Vinh.

Not to mention, Thu Trang not only directed but also produced, and also played a supporting role in the film.

Young stars but not many impressions

Basically, the content Billionaire Kiss There are not many interesting points. The film still follows the familiar direction of the romantic comedy genre, exploiting the love triangle motif. The director chose the poetic setting of Da Lat as the background for the romantic scenes, contributing to making the story more intimate.

But the promotional images and trailers have not created curiosity. It seems that the crew is still deliberately hiding the most attractive elements, not revealing the twists in the film to avoid ruining the audience's experience.

The presence of a cast of young and beautiful actors is almost a factor that attracts customers, including Doan Thien An - Miss Peace of Vietnam 2022. This is also her first leading film role after a supporting role in Prince of Bac Lieu (2024).

Starring alongside Doan Thien An are Le Xuan Tien and Ma Ran Do. However, all three are not guaranteed box office revenue, and their appeal is not as great as the stars of the remaining projects such as Tran Thanh, Kaity Nguyen, Thanh Son...

Le Xuan Tien has experience in many high-grossing projects such as Old Girl 2 (2018), Old Girl 3 (2020), Girl from the past (2022)… Unfortunately, the acting of model Born in 1996, he has not been highly appreciated yet. He mainly plays familiar roles so he has not left a deep impression on the audience.

Meanwhile, Ma Ran Do is not a prominent face in cinema. The actor born in 1997 is famous for his title of “hot boy”, known for appearing in MV No love is like the first love (2020) by singer Trung Quan Idol.

Ma Ran Do and Doan Thien An are not actors who are highly regarded for their acting.

Inviting new actors to join the project is an effort by Thu Trang to target the film towards a young audience. The trio promises to bring a breath of fresh air to the Tet screen, while also increasing the appeal of the story.

However, she also made things difficult for herself with her first work. It is very likely that the quality of the film will be affected to some extent due to the young age of the cast.

Last year, director Le Hoang was also quite confident when bringing Tea shown during Tet. As a result, the film had to withdraw from theaters in a slump, being Tomorrow Tran Thanh's defeated and only earned more than 1.6 billion VND.

Therefore, there is still a possibility that Thu Trang will fall into a similar situation if the crew does not have a strong promotional strategy to increase coverage for the film.

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