Booming market, leading films create a large gap
Data updated to February 22, Vietnamese movie box office during Tet continues to maintain the upward momentum. "Thỏ ơi!!" leads with about 22.6 billion VND per day, selling nearly 240,000 tickets on more than 4,300 screenings. The movies behind have a significant gap: "Nhà ba tôi một phòng" reached about 7.8 billion VND, "Báu vật trời cho" collected about 5.1 billion VND, and "Mùi phở" reached about 2.2 billion VND per day.
Total accumulated revenue up to February 22, "Thỏ ơi!!" reached about 220.8 billion VND, far ahead of its competitors. "Nhà ba tôi một phòng" reached about 72.3 billion VND, "Báu vật trời cho" reached about 44 billion VND and "Mùi phở" reached about 27.6 billion VND. This situation reflects the familiar model of Tet box office: A film that creates a strong media effect will pull the majority of revenue, while the remaining films share market share according to their own audience groups.
Uneven quality and familiar controversies
Besides positive revenue, this year's Tet film season continues to have many debates about quality. Some works achieved high revenue but caused mixed opinions about the script, film pace or message processing.
Tho oi!!" is considered to have a strong media effect, the film is different, seriously invested but still makes mistakes in the acting of the young stars, many details are not logical... "My father's house, one room" although creating sympathy when talking about family affection, has a big minus point regarding the old script, predictable details, and uneven star acting...
The situation of uneven quality stems from many reasons. First of all, the pressure of the release time. Tet movies often have to be completed on time, making the stage of script development and post-production easily shortened. When the screening schedule has been set, it is difficult for producers to postpone the project even if the content is not really complete.
Filmmakers' psychology chooses a safe formula. Many filmmakers prioritize models that have proven effective: Family story, comedy elements, gentle emotions, familiar cast. This formula helps reduce commercial risks, but also makes many works similar in structure, lacking surprises in content.
Dependence on media and social media effects. A movie can create heat before going to theaters thanks to a strong promotion campaign, but if the content quality is not commensurate, audience reactions after watching will be clearly differentiated. This leads to a situation where initial revenue is high but controversy lasts, or slows down quickly after the first week.
Cinema needs more than one big season of success
The high revenue of the 2026 Tet season shows that audiences are ready to spend money on Vietnamese films - this is the most important signal of the market. However, if cinema only stops at meeting short-term entertainment needs, commercial success may become a limit for long-term development.
A mature cinema needs works that both meet the market and create artistic and emotional imprints. That does not necessarily mean that the film is heavy or difficult to watch, but that the story is built more tightly, the characters have more depth and the emotions are more true. When the audience steps out of the cinema with a scene left or a dialogue that makes them think, the work truly has a long lifespan.
The Tet film season also sets requirements for a long-term strategy for the industry. If all resources are focused on a peak season, projects released at other times of the year will lack opportunities. Conversely, if the market is evenly distributed, Vietnamese cinema can develop more sustainably, creating space for many genres and storytelling styles.
