Kong: Skull Island Bringing Vietnam tourism to Hollywood screens

Kong's Journey: Skull Island in Quang Binh

Located in the core of the S-shaped strip of land, Quang Binh province is home to countless of the most majestic wonders of the natural world. So nowadays, more and more filmmakers from all over the world look to Quang Binh to record spectacular footage. Among them, the most famous is the 2017 blockbuster Kong: Skull Island directed by Hollywood director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.

With the name Kong: Skull Island, one of the world's most famous film brands has come to Quang Binh from Hollywood for an entirely new journey.

After being released in 2017, the film received a lot of praise from audiences, even being nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Visual Effects". The crew believes that one of the main reasons for the success of the film is the setting. The footage is extremely realistic, depicting memorable moments on the journey of The King of Skull Island - Kong.

The two main filming locations of the film in Quang Binh are the Tu Lan Cave system and Yen Phu lake. In particular, Tu Lan is a cave system made up of more than 10 caves. It is located in dense forests, in the middle of the rolling hills of Tan Hoa commune, Quang Binh province. It is about 70 km Northwest of Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park. If you take the time to watch the film, you will be able to see the Rao Nan River winding around the grasslands and open green peanut fields located in front of Chuot Cave, a cave connected to the Tu Lan cave system.

Another location that was selected to film in Quang Binh was Yen Phu Lake, surrounded by limestone mountains in Yen Phu village, Minh Hoa district, Quang Binh province. Yen Phu Lake, with its blue beauty and large space, was selected as the location where a pilot was seriously injured when the helicopter he was driving crashed on the island.

There are efforts to make Vietnam become the scene of Hollywood

Oxalis collaborated with ABC News to broadcast Good Morning America (GMA) live from Son Doong Cave and Hang En in May 2015. More than 60 million people have watched the show on television and online, garnering the attention of countless audiences worldwide, as well as location manager, production manager, and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts of the legendary picture blockbuster Kong: Skull Island.

Through context partner Indochina Productions, which has partnered with Oxalis on the Pan film project (2014), Oxalis reached out to Kong's context director Leann Emmert and introduced the picturesque scenery and massive cave systems in Vietnam, to convince the studio to choose this place as the setting for the film. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was extremely impressed by Oxalis' images of Vietnam, which motivated him to survey the country to make the scenes for his life-long project. Oxalis has been supporting the survey team for nearly a year, to provide the most effective logistical preparations for the crew.

After months of rushing negotiations and pledging support for the film project, Oxalis and Legendary signed a partnership and became local partners. This was to provide logistical support to the film crew in Quang Binh. The film, codenamed "Titan", was filmed in Tu Lan cave area, Ho Yen Phu in Minh Hoa district of Quang Binh province, Trang An area of Ninh Binh province, and Ha Long in Quang Ninh province.

There are challenges and opportunities

Kong: Skull Island, starring Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, and Brie Larson, cost $185 million to make the film. The film crew also incurred costs of about $136 million for the promotion and organization of the film's release events around the world. This is a film with a huge budget, the first time filmed in Vietnam, also the first time Vietnam has worked with the film crew of more than 150 people with many new filmmaking equipment.

Hollywood is famous for its meticulousness and high-end service. The procedure must be fast, partners must be professional, while partners in Vietnam have never had experience working with such a large film crew. Along with the difficulties encountered in importing filmmaking equipment, arranging accommodation and travel for the delegation also proved challenging.

Many countries in the world are always on the hunt for Hollywood blockbuster film crews. This is because they know that the film will help promote their country, help the tourism industry grow. Kong: Skull Island at one point executive producer Eric McLeod had intended to move footage of Kong: Skull Island to China or Malaysia instead of Vietnam. However, the enthusiasm of partners, local authorities, and the central licensing authority along with Oxalis's commitment to supporting led executive producer and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts to keep Vietnam in many scenes of Kong: Skull Island.

The success of Kong: Skull Island and many praises from famous actors, directors, and producers Film about a beautiful Vietnam in the eyes of Hollywood. We hope that there will be many other major Hollywood films filmed in Vietnam, helping to further promote Vietnam's image to world friends.

What role does Oxalis play in Kong: Skull Island?

Because Kong: Skull Island is the largest film project ever filmed in Vietnam, all filming locations have been carefully prepared to welcome one of the world's most famous film crews. When the film crew arrived in Quang Binh, Oxalis Adventure was honored to be a local support unit during production.

Due to the strict requirements of information security from the film crew, Oxalis assisted the crew in arranging meetings with all levels of government (province, district, commune) to discuss a unified commitment in protection of production materials, and obtaining a construction permit for a short distance, for the crew to transport equipment before officially starting filming.

During filming, 15 porters and a supervisor from Oxalis were dispatched to assist the crew. Oxalis has also arranged hundreds of employees to arrange logistics and organize exchanges between local farmers and the film crew to hire cornfields in Tan Hoa, ensuring the most unspoiled scenery for director Jordan Vogt-Robert.

The film Kong: Skull Island was released in March 2017 and has sold more than $500 million worldwide. Filmed 70% in Vietnam, the film has impressed Hollywood directors and Kong fans around the world.

With the advantage of natural scenery, Quang Binh province or the whole country of Vietnam will always welcome cinema works with open arms and full support, expressing the beauty in Vietnamese culture. Look forward to other special projects in the future!

The sincere affection of director Jordan Vogt-Roberts

After completing the scenes of Kong: Skull Island in Quang Binh, director Jordan Vogt-Robert shared his feelings about the valuable experiences during the film's making and expressed his admiration for the mountain scenery here. He also suggested that he would return to Quang Binh to learn more about the caves in the not too distant future.

In December 2016, he returned to Quang Binh to explore the world's largest cave – Son Doong Cave. This was at the invitation of Mr. Nguyen Chau A, General Director of Oxalis Adventure Company. His return further reinforces the idea that Quang Binh is a potential location for a lot more studios around the globe. After years of surveying, he found that in Quang Binh there are extremely different characteristics, which can hardly be found anywhere else.

In January 2019, when Oxalis Adventure teamed up with Quang Binh People's Committee to Hollywood (USA) to present to nearly 100 directors and film producers about the film and tourism potential of his home province, Jordan Vogt-Robert wholeheartedly praised the scenery, people of Vietnam in general and Quang Binh in particular. He also encouraged his colleagues to try to come to Vietnam once to witness the vast potential of this beautiful country.

So far, he has always focused on Vietnam and hopes to return to great film projects in the future.

See more travel promotion campaigns in Oxalis's 10-year journey below: