Foreign bombs maintain dominance
Updated data on January 5 from Box Office Vietnam, Avatar 3: Fire and Ash continues to top Vietnamese box offices with daily revenue of nearly 2 billion VND, selling more than 12,000 tickets out of about 1,600 screenings. The total revenue of the film in the Vietnamese market has approached the 250 billion VND mark, maintaining a very long gap compared to other competitors.
The market at the beginning of 2026 continues to affirm the role of "revenue pillars" of Hollywood blockbusters in Vietnam. During holidays and New Year's Eve, audiences often prioritize large-scale films with spectacular visual effects for entertainment, creating a clear advantage for foreign films compared to domestic films that have limited production and media resources.
The dominance of Avatar 3 not only reflects the strength of the global brand, but also poses a long-term challenge for the Vietnamese film market: If it cannot find its own direction, domestic films are very easily "swallowed" when facing international blockbusters at the same time of release.
Differentiated Vietnamese films
In the Vietnamese film industry, the box office picture at the beginning of 2026 clearly shows differentiation. Two works released at the same time, Thien Duong Mau (directed by Hoang Tuan Cuong) and Ai Thuong Ai Men (directed by Thu Trang) have significant business results differences.
On January 5, Blood Paradise achieved revenue of nearly 2 billion VND, over about 2,700 screenings. Total film revenue has exceeded 60 billion VND, becoming the Vietnamese film with the best achievements in theaters at the beginning of 2026.
The key factor that helps Blood Paradise prevail lies in choosing the topic of cyber fraud - a topical issue that causes public outrage and is of particular concern to society. The film exploits the story of Vietnamese people being tricked into going abroad with promises of "light jobs with high salaries", then being imprisoned and forced to participate in transnational fraud rings. Clear social warning helps the film hit the psychology of curiosity, wanting to learn and "watch to be vigilant" of the audience. This shows that the film closely follows hot issues, reflects real life, thereby creating a natural attraction without having to rely entirely on purely entertainment elements.
Conversely, Ai thuong ai men encountered many difficulties. As of January 5th, the film has only grossed more than 17 billion VND, with daily revenue of only around 500 million VND, significantly lower than its competitor, Vietnamese films.
Thu Trang's film chooses the setting of the Mekong Delta in previous decades, recreating the space of rivers, villages and Tan Chau neighborhood (An Giang) with nostalgic colors. The story revolves around the character Hai Men - an orphaned woman carrying a family amidst debt and upheavals, intertwined with family relationships, sisterhood and pure love of the younger generation. Despite possessing emotional material and a characteristic cultural space, Ai thuong ai men (Who loves whom?) is released in theaters at a time when audiences prioritize strong entertainment films with fast tempo.
The revenue gap between the two films clearly reflects the difficult problem of Vietnamese films: not every work that is meticulously invested in content and setting can successfully transform into a box office success. In the context of foreign blockbusters taking the lead, domestic films wanting to stand firm must choose the right topic, the right time and the right audience.
