The Christmas and New Year holiday period is undoubtedly a successful period from a commercial point of view. As it turns out, not all films were lucky. Unfortunately, the premiere of the new Vietnamese action film "The Clash | Bay Rong" almost coincided with the premiere of James Cameron's science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar". It goes without saying that an Asian film with a multi-million dollar Hollywood project will not be able to compete in any case, but the problems did not end there. The leaders of the Vietnamese cinema chain Megastar decided to make extra money, and in a very “dirty” way, almost forcing viewers to buy tickets for “Avatar” and canceling the screenings of “Clash”.
This news quickly spread across various forums, social networks and even the websites of some reputable manufacturing companies. Everyone asked the question: is this really possible?
The truth came out after one of the comments on Facebook. It talked about the fact that “Megastar in Da Nang is being dishonest towards Clash. Despite the fact that screenings of the Vietnamese action movie continued, sellers said that tickets had run out and advised them to go to see “Avatar” instead. The reason for this behavior was an advertising campaign to overcome the barrier of $1 million in box office receipts.”. Soon after, this behavior of the sellers was confirmed by spectators from all over Vietnam who came to watch the long-awaited action film.
A journalist from one of the film companies in Saigon states:
When I tried to buy tickets for Clash at the Megastar cinema in Hang Vuong, the salesman insisted that I watch Avatar instead and wouldn't sell me the tickets. After I expressed my dissatisfaction and said that I had already seen Avatar, the seller finally sold me tickets!
The situation began to take on threatening turns when the aggressiveness of the discussions reached its climax: “Megastar only shows American films instead of Vietnamese films... not like Galaxy! These are OUR films!”
Among the large number of response comments, we managed to find one signed with the name “Veronica Ngo” (Veronica Ngo is the English spelling of the name of the actress who played the main female role):
Thanks for everyone's support!!! "Collision" is not limited in the number of sessions, trying to satisfy the needs of consumers as much as possible. Of course, there have been cases with limited exposure. Fortunately, those who support the film have enough patience... in cities, other cinemas like Galaxy, Cinebox and Dong Da will show the film to everyone six days a week...
What really happened?
Journalists decided to conduct their own investigation and contacted Megastar cashiers across the country, asking about tickets and show times. As it turns out, you won't be able to pre-order tickets online. The same situation applies to ordering tickets by phone. The cashiers also reminded that you need to buy in the morning, since tickets for evening shows run out quickly, especially on weekends.
Upon learning of these rumors, Vu Phuong, a representative of Megastar, expressed her dissatisfaction:
I don't understand the reason for such rumors, because the profit from Vietnamese films is usually 3-5 times higher than the profit from films made in Hollywood. We are not stupid enough to discriminate against Vietnamese films, especially when it comes to such a large-scale action film like Clash. As for Avatar and Clash, Avatar is almost 3 hours long, which is why the schedule is so tight. The maximum number of sessions per day does not exceed 5 times, compared to 90 minutes of "Clash", which is shown 6-7 times a day, thereby earning more money.
But the truth is that the Megastar cinema in Hang Vuong currently only has 4 screenings of Clash per day. Compare this to 9 sessions of the regular version of Avatar and three sessions of the 3D version. :)
In response to a question about the cancellation of Clash sessions in favor of Avatar, Vu Phuong explained that this happened, but solely due to viewer preferences. She added: “It’s true that our cashiers were told to advertise Avatar when selling tickets to Clash, but there was no nagging or persuasion not to watch the Vietnamese action movie.”
And here are the words of Ngo Thanh Van: “The point is not that the film is not shown, but that it is not advertised properly.” The actress intends to make an official statement in response to this matter after receiving permission from Chanh Nam films.
Source: vietchannel
Translation: EvilDollaR
No, Jason DinALt, not “hypnotists”, but PR people....(from the word “PR”) :)
I have a hard time understanding how it’s possible to make something like this “VS”, there are so many different genres in Avatar with action, there are specific tensions, one single fight between the “blues” and that one is animated, as they say, “from....., in general, leave me alone”, pure snotty melodrama for married couples. The Clash, one way or another, compared to Avatar, drive, drive and more action. How can a person waiting for an action film with martial arts of his own free will (without a bayonet in the back) go instead to a “snotty drama”?? ? Something isn’t going well, maybe, of course, instead of cashiers selling tickets, a team of experienced hypnotists was hired =)
I don’t understand such moves at all, I always thought that in the east they are very patriotic about the ribbons of their country and would not exchange “overseas” creations “for any price.” Bribery of officials in Megastar is obvious!
Ugliness! They will do anything to collect money...