Vietnamese film revenue grows
In the discussions on cultural industrialization strategies from 2020-2025, cinema is always expected to be a rapidly growing cultural industry, soon integrating into the world, will be an industry that not only "grants money" but also " earns money", is profitable, to promote the remaining cultural industries.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, cinema encountered many difficulties, from the quality, quantity of films, to revenue when cinemas were constantly closed.
From 2022-2023, Vietnamese films have been continuously losing money, many films have been labeled as "disasters" when released in theaters. The number of films with "hundred billion" revenue in 2022 can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
In 2023, Vietnamese film revenue will be about 1,563 billion VND. This figure increased to VND1,900 billion in 2024, thanks to Tran Thanh's film "Mai" achieving a record revenue of VND550 billion. Only 2 films by Tran Thanh and Ly Hai have achieved more than half of the revenue of all Vietnamese films released in 2024.
The most optimistic people may not believe that in 2025, Vietnamese films will continuously have films worth hundreds of billions, it is expected that by the end of the year, the total revenue of Vietnamese films can reach 4,000 billion VND, double that of 2024.
In the first 9 months of 2025 alone, there were 12 films with "hundred billion" revenue, of which the strong rise of State films was something that no one expected, when "Red Rain" of the People's Army Cinema reached the target of 714 billion VND - becoming the highest-grossing work of all time.
Currently, "The War in the Air" of the People's Public Security Cinema is "making waves" at cinemas, receiving a "shower" of compliments from the audience to experts for its script, production organization and impressive cast. "Death in the Air" is predicted to earn a revenue of 300 billion VND when leaving the theater.
The Vietnamese film market in 2025 shows diversity and richness in topics. If in previous years, the market was still divided into "seasons and crops", Vietnamese films only waited for the Tet holiday, the holiday to go to the cinema, and focused mainly on ticket-selling genres such as comedy, psychology, and horror.
2025 is a spectacular change when the way of making seasonal films is broken, the number of theaters increases, many quality projects. In particular, the market also recorded unexpected discouragement, when Tran Thanh no longer held a revenue record, the No. 1 box office position fell to female director Dang Thai Huyen.
The trend of Vietnamese people watching Vietnamese films
Focusing resources on developing domestic cinema, limiting the "cultural lure" and box office dominance of international cinema - is the path that many countries such as China and Korea have pursued.
When promoting the film industry, Korea has built many movements, "Koreans watch Korean movies", while increasing investment in the quality and quantity of Korean movies released in theaters. In a short time, Korean cinemas were no longer dominated by Hollywood blockbusters, the strong rise helped Korean films dominate the domestic market. Now, Korean cinema has become a "money-making" industry with incredible development.
For a long time, the Chinese government has also built a policy of prioritizing domestic film production. China has limited the influence of foreign films to a high level. On each important holiday, the number of foreign films scheduled for release only accounts for 10-20% (only about 2 out of 8-9 films). Foreign works cannot compete for screenings and spread and promotion compared to blockbusters produced in China.
The platform to optimize development resources for domestic cinema starts with the support of audiences in home theaters.
The biggest sign of change for Vietnamese films in 2025 is the strong support of Vietnamese audiences. Never before has the trend of "Vietnamese people watching Vietnamese movies" been so strong.
From Tunnel: Sun in the dark, Red Rain to Fo War in the Air, all over social networking forums, audience groups are calling each other to go watch Vietnamese films.
Vietnamese films and Vietnamese actors have become a topic of strong discussion, the topic of war films is the most widely shared, images from Vietnamese works are widely spread.
In the first 9 months of 2025, Vietnamese films have defeated foreign blockbusters in terms of screenings and revenue even during holidays. Currently, The War in the Air also dominates all other foreign films, even though Battle After War by actor Leonardo DiCaprio is praised as an excellent super product.
