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Thrilling times: A poster for Lenh Xoa So (Death Sentence) which will open nationwide in April. |
HCM CITY — Film studios are working on a raft of new projects, including comedy, action, and horror films, that are slated for release this year.
Things are all set for Thien Ngan (Galaxy), Viet Nam Studio (BHD), and Early Riser Media Group to begin shooting an action-comedy movie about a switch between a rural man and the leader of a crime gang at the end of this month.
Long Ruoi (Fly Long), the eponymous title named for the gang boss, will be directed by Vietnamese-American Charlie Nguyen.
A poor cook from the countryside, Teo, looks so much like the Sai Gon gang boss that the latter's men force him to act as their leader who is in hospital after a fight with rivals.
Teo has to constantly ward off conspiracies to assassinate him.
Nguyen said he and his crew are working to create a "new style" for the film since many films have been made earlier in this genre.
The film features Thai Hoa, who plays Teo and Long Ruoi. Hoa came to prominence last year after playing a gay man in another Galaxy Studio film De Mai Tinh (It's Up to Mai).
Long Ruoi is expected to be released on National Day, September 2, a Galaxy spokesperson said.
Hoang Tran Film is making an action flick about gangsters, Lenh Xoa So (Death Sentence). It will have plenty of thrilling fight sequences featuring traditional Vietnamese martial arts, its director Do Quang Minh said.
It features overseas Vietnamese martial arts star Tran Minh Hoang, who won many European taekwondo and Thai boxing championships, who is also the producer and martial arts director.
A former member of a criminal gang, Hoang, turns a new leaf and quits his old ways but has to contend with the "death sentence" passed by the gang's leader.
Filming finished at the end of January and BHD will release it in April.
Galaxy Studio is making a supernatural thriller Rh108 which is being directed by Bui Thac Chuyen, who is also one of its scriptwriters along with Bui Kim Quy, winner of the top prize at the 2004 National Short Film Festival.
The film is about Chieu Duong, a 16-year-old girl who has the mental make-up of a six-year-old following a traumatic incident during her childhood.
However, the incident has given her strange powers – she has the ability to read people's minds and foretell terrible disasters.
Nguyen Thuy Duong, daughter of veteran actress Mai Phuong – famous for her role in the 1983 film Son Ca Trong Thanh Pho (Nightingale in the City) – will play the role of her namesake.
"Duong's face and body language match the character's, while she also passed the screen test," the director said.
Duong said though it was difficult to fit in the filming with her school schedule, Chieu Duong's role was worth the challenge.
She earlier acted in two TV series, May Rau Lam Vo (A Man-Wife) and Con Duong Phia Truoc (The Road Ahead).
Galaxy expects to release the film for Halloween in October. — VNS