What is the future for Vietnam's first horror universe?

"Linh Luc - Quy Nhap Trang" is considered the beginning of the first horror cinematic universe in Vietnam. Although it was introduced with great promise, building a series of horror projects also poses many challenges in terms of quality and public reception.

Recently, the director Vo Thanh Hoa Surprised to introduce long-term project at horror movie premiere Lynx - Ghost in the House. According to him, the crew will not stop at one independent work but introduce a series of consecutive projects, creating a unique "horror universe" that has never been seen before in Vietnamese cinema.

The plan brings many interesting points but also faces a lot of skepticism from the audience. Because, the build A “horror universe” not only requires unique creativity but also requires a large investment in time, budget and effort from the crew. Not to mention, the producer also faces the possibility of loss if a project is not received as expected.

A new milestone for the horror genre

Expected to launch in November, Lynx - Demon incarnate is a horror film that is notable for bringing together familiar faces such as Hong Dao, miss Thuy Tien, Samuel An…

The project director is Luu Thanh Luan - created a "fever" Demon Dog last year. He is also a close associate, continuing to accompany Vo Thanh Hoa in the coming time.

The crew said Lynx - Demon incarnate is the "opening shot" for a series of 14 horror film projects, each film corresponding to a different animal, associated with folk beliefs and long-standing mysterious stories of the Vietnamese people.

Lynx - The Demon King is the opening shot of a long-running horror project.

Films about Than Trung, Boo Nam Hoong, Chuot Ngu Sac... and other symbolic animals such as pythons, tigers, crocodiles... will be continuously released from now until 2030. Each project will open a completely different story, deeply exploiting spiritual and legendary elements, especially the cultural values of each animal in Vietnamese life.

Before announcing it to the audience, the crew had been brainstorming and preparing the project for over 5 years. They also invested in thorough research on the script, setting, and related materials to be able to bring the best projects.

Vo Thanh Hoa's ambition with the horror universe is not difficult to understand. In the past two years, there have been many horror projects that have achieved impressive revenue at the box office such as Ghost Dog, Ghost , Tet in Hell Village … Most recently, horror movies Bran - inspired by fairy tales Tam Cam - also caused a fever at the box office with revenue of over 96 billion VND.

Moreover, horror films often do not require a high budget, and the production process is not complicated compared to action or fantasy films, so the ability to make a profit is also better.

Director Vo Thanh Hoa devoted a lot of effort to the project.

The answer is in the future

Vo Thanh Hoa's direction received a lot of support. Because exploiting Vietnamese folk elements such as lynx, dog demons, mascots and mysterious legends will help the projects become unique, not overlapping with Western horror films.

However, Vietnamese cinema has previously introduced a few "cinematic universes" but they were not always as successful as expected.

For example, Studio68 - a film production company of Ngo Thanh Van - once attracted attention when determined to make "Vietnamese fairy tale universe". The project was grandly introduced with films about familiar childhood characters such as Ong Ke, Thang Bom, Thach Sanh...

Unfortunately, until now this universe has stopped at the idea level before the fall of Status Ti (2021). The film was not well received by the audience, faced a strong boycott wave and only earned more than 22 billion VND according to data from Box Office Vietnam (independent box office monitor).

The failure of Trang Ti makes the future of Ngo Thanh Van's "Vietnamese fairy tale universe" uncertain.

Most recently, Ngo Thanh Van also failed miserably with Thanh Soi: Wild Chrysanthemums in the Night (2022) - action movie spin-off Hai Phuong (2019). The project was heavily invested but only earned 22 billion VND at the box office, causing the producer to suffer heavy losses.

The tastes of Vietnamese audiences have always been considered unpredictable and often change unexpectedly. Even an experienced producer like Ngo Thanh Van cannot avoid failure, partly showing the fierceness of the film market.

Internationally, not every cinematic universe has been successful. Universal has tried to build Dark Universe to revive classic characters Dracula, Frankenstein... but the project quickly failed right from the first film. The Mummy (2017) with Tom Cruise.

That shows that building a cinematic universe is not easy, it can fall into loss at any time even with bold ideas and large budget investments.

Overall, creating a “horror universe” with Lynx - Demon incarnate is a groundbreaking and promising direction. However, to be successful in terms of revenue, the crew needs to consider carefully to ensure the quality of each film, as well as maintain the excitement of the audience.

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