Vietnamese teen girls beat Marvel's Guardians with box office record

By Minh Nga   May 3, 2017 | 08:29 pm PT
Vietnamese teen girls beat Marvel's Guardians with box office record
A scene from the movie “Em chua 18”
Local rom-com 'I'm not 18' smashed all expectations and dominated theaters in Vietnam during the holiday weekend.

"Em chua 18" (I’m not 18) has surpassed Hollywood blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy” at the local box office and is expected to soon claim the title of the biggest Vietnamese movie ever.

Opening on April 28, the rom-com about a school girl and her scandalous love story with a much older man has racked up VND86 billion ($3.78 million), local media reported.

The film is likely to hit the VND100 billion mark in ticket sales soon, which means it will also dethrone the current champion "Em la ba noi cua anh" (Sweet 20), a rom-com released last year.

"Em chua 18," a film of Le Thanh Son, is rated C16 as it is deemed suitable for mature audiences only. According to the film database IMDB, its more provoking English name for the U.S. market is "Jailbait."

Son says his film comes with a message: Vietnamese parents should be more open with their teenage children.

It stars Kaity Nguyen, a 18 year-old newcomer who has stunned critics and fans with her impressive acting skills.

Family-friendly “Guardians of the Galaxy” did well around the world but could not defeat Nguyen's girl power. The latest from Disney and Marvel made more than $106 million in its first weekend at 58 percent of overseas territories, Variety reported on Wednesday.

Both films are playing in local theaters.

 
 
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