Vietnamese movie has lost 250 million VND before being released

Bear image and scene of a scene in "Claws"

After After "Dragon Trap" and "Em chua 18", director Le Thanh Son returns to cinema with a survival film. He admits he was reckless when choosing this topic to release in Vietnamese theaters. But after "Em chua 18", the male director wants to challenge himself.

"Recently, I'm bored with comedy movies, I like the jungle atmosphere and beautiful scenery of Vietnam, so I'm looking for a story about life and death in the wild forest. I also researched young people who recently like to travel, explore the country, and experience adventure travel, so I chose to make 'Claws'," said Le Thanh Son.

In the new film, director Le Thanh Son chose a bear to create the villainous monster character, after looking at many wild animal options such as elephants, tigers, crocodiles, and snakes.

Initially, Le Thanh Son created the monster in the form of a handmade mascot. He believes that this helps save costs and shorten post-production. "At first, I made a fake bear costume, controlled from the inside, costing 250 million VND. This is the Hollywood method, applied when computer technology was not yet strongly developed," the director said.

However, after completing the fake bear, the crew discovered many disadvantages. "The suit was heavy, we struggled to find a way to control the organs. No matter how much we calculated, everything 'broke', losing 250 million VND," Le Thanh Son added.

After the failure of the handmade bear model, Le Thanh Son switched to VFX. The process of creating the main villain in the upcoming movie encountered many difficulties, especially the design of the scarred, soulful face of the beast.

The monster character was meticulously produced, starting with the skeleton, attaching muscles, applying fat, skin, and finally fur. "We did it carefully even though those parts were not present in the film. The muscles were required to distinguish each muscle group, otherwise the monster would be no different from a dry tree branch. This stage involved 7-8 people and took several months," Le Thanh Son added.

The survival project was scripted in 2015 and went through many difficulties before being released, especially when Kaity Nguyen dropped out of the main role, causing the film to be "shelved" for two years.

Director Le Thanh Son said he felt pressured when making a movie about monsters. Just for the special effects, the film crew spent up to 30% of the film's budget on CGI and VFX technology.

In addition, "hundred billion director" Le Thanh Son is also cautious about the market, as most of the films released in theaters today fail. That is also the reason why he announced the creation of the villain bear early to attract audiences.

"Before, the box office didn't have Ly Hai and Tran Thanh, so the best solution was always given at the end. At that time, I didn't believe in the project much, but now Mat has to appear to greet the audience," said Le Thanh Son.