Hanoians travel to neighboring provinces for movie fix

Nguyen Thanh Hung, 27, took a day off Friday to travel 30 kilometers from Hanoi to neighboring Bac Ninh Province to watch the superhero flick "Spider-Man: No Way Home" with his group of friends.

"Cinemas in Hanoi are still closed, I have no choice but to travel to Bac Ninh to watch movies before other people watch them and spoil things on the Internet," he said, adding he will also watch "Eternals", another Hollywood blockbuster that hit Vietnamese big screens last month.

"But not in Hanoi," one of his friends pitched in.

With cinemas in Ho Chi Minh City and many other localities having reopened since mid-November, those in Hanoi remain shut, forcing many people to travel to other provinces to enjoy movies they have missed, especially with the highly-anticipated "Spider-Man: No Way Home" to officially hit cinemas this weekend.

Poster of "Spider-Man: No Way Home". Photo courtesy of Marvel Studio

Apart from Bac Ninh, northern Ha Nam and Thai Binh Province are also popular among Hanoi moviegoers, who don’t mind traveling a long distance for their cinema fix. Many people have even planned to watch several movies to "make the long journey worth it."

"I will watch Spider-Man and two other movies in Phu Ly Town of Ha Nam Province on Saturday. I have missed going to cinemas so much," said Nguyen Trong Dat, 24.

The man from Hanoi’s Long Bien District will travel around 50 kilometers to the cinema with his group of friends Saturday morning.

Seats in cinemas across provinces like Bac Ninh, Ha Nam, Thai Binh, Yen Bai are fully booked, especially for this weekend.

On the Facebook page of Lotte Cinema in Bac Ninh, netizens have asked whether they must take Covid tests if traveling from Hanoi to the province to watch movies.

"There is no travel restrictions now, let’s go to Bac Ninh this weekend," a Facebooker commented.

Seats in a cinema in northern Thai Nguyen Provinces are fully booked. Photo courtesy of Spider-Man Facebook page

With the premiere of "Spider-Man: No Way Home", cinema chains hope to attract more moviegoers after cinemas reopened last month with limited attendance due to few blockbusters.

"The holiday is coming with a lot of good movies and here we are, traveling to other provinces to watch our favorite films," Hung lamented.

As of Friday, the capital has recorded more than 21,000 Covid cases in the current outbreak.