Another classic of Vietnamese literature is heading to the big screen in the near future.
Over the past week, film enthusiasts in Vietnam have been buzzing with the recently announced film adaptation of Số Đỏ (Dumb Luck), one of the most iconic literary works of modern Vietnam. According to Deadline, the project was first unveiled at the Asia TV Forum & Market in Singapore, to be produced by Fremantle, Beach House Pictures and Vietnam’s Anh Tễu Studio.
Written by Vũ Trọng Phụng, Số Đỏ the novel came out in 1936 first as a serial on Hà Nội Báo. The book is a searing satirical attack on the rising bourgeoisie living in Hanoi at the time, using puns, absurdisms, and delicious situational ironies. It chronicles the life of Xuân Tóc Đỏ, a lower-class nobody with a cunning talent for trickery and fronting. By capitalizing on the society’s westernization trend, he was able to infiltrate and ascend the social ladder into elite culture.
Read Saigoneer’s review of Số Đỏ here.
The movie version will be written and directed by Phan Gia Nhật Linh with pop heartthrob MONO — in his acting debut — playing the lead role of Xuân. Linh first announced a similar adaptation back in 2020, though no actor was attached at the time, and the whole project was likely shelved for four years due to the global pandemic. MONO, whose real name is Nguyễn Việt Hoàng, first rose to fame as Sơn Tùng M-TP’s brother, but has since made a name for himself as a charismatic Gen Z pop star. It remains to be seen whether he can do the rather complex role justice.
Số Đỏ will be a collaborative effort between Vietnam, South Korea, and Singapore. South Korean CJ CGV will distribute the movie, but a release date has not been confirmed at the time of writing.
