'Bo Gia' shatters box office record for fastest to $4.3 mln

By Tam Ky March 10, 2021 | 08:42 pm PT

People line up to buy tickets to "Bo Gia" (Old Father) at a cinema in District 1, HCMC, March 8, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huyen Do.

"Bo Gia" (Old Father) has set a new record for the fastest to a box office collection of VND100 billion ($4.3 million).

It reached the milestone in four days after being released last weekend, beating the previous record of six days held by "Gai Gia Lam Chieu 3" (The Last Egg 3) since 2020, according to independent tracking company Box Office Vietnam.

The other releases during the weekend, "Gai Gia Lam Chieu 5" (The Last Egg 5) and the first Disney movie featuring a Southeast Asian princess, "Raya and The Last Dragon," collected VND10 billion ($435,000) and VND4 billion ($174,000) during those four days.

Cinema chain Galaxy, which also produced "Bo Gia," decided to continue early shows after seeing its popularity.

It said the movie also broke the record for single-day collections, raking in nearly VND40 billion ($1.7 million) on the fourth day.

It reportedly cost VND20 billion ($870,000) to make.

The film adaptation of a hit web drama directed by Vu Ngoc Dang stars comedian and TV host Tran Thanh. The web drama version, released on YouTube in early 2020, was the most viewed in Vietnam with more than 90 million hits for its five episodes.

It tells the story of Sang, an old motorbike-taxi driver who lives in a low-income neighborhood in downtown Saigon and cannot earn enough to take care of his family.