Vietnamese cinema is experiencing a spectacular breakthrough, reaching new heights. According to Box Office Vietnam, an independent box office statistics unit, in 2025, the total revenue of Vietnamese films in the domestic market will reach approximately 3,650 billion VND, nearly double that of 2024 (approximately 1,900 billion VND).
At the 24th Vietnam Film Festival in 2025, the Cinema Department (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) also confirmed that Vietnamese films will account for 62% of the market share in theaters in 2025, spectacularly surpassing foreign "blockbusters". Building on this strong growth, Vietnamese cinema continues its rapid expansion into the Year of the Horse 2026 with the expectation of more professional and sustainable development.
Vietnamese films conquer the box office.
The most significant achievement was the film "Red Rain" by the People's Army Film Studio. This film about the revolutionary war created a "miracle" by achieving a revenue of 714 billion VND, becoming the highest-grossing Vietnamese film of all time. From its release, "Red Rain" continuously set records: the film with the highest number of early screening tickets; the highest single-day revenue for a feature film in Vietnamese box office history; the fastest Vietnamese film to reach the 50, 100, 200, and 300 billion VND milestones; and the first Vietnamese film to surpass the 700 billion VND revenue mark. Exploring the tragic heroism of the battle to defend the Quang Tri Citadel, "Red Rain" captivated audiences with its realistic, emotionally rich footage and profound message about patriotism and national pride. It also broke the stereotype that films about history and revolutionary wars are usually niche and only appeal to a select audience.
The film "Red Rain" made a strong impression on Vietnamese cinema.
Contributing to "Red Rain"'s box office success over the past year were other films such as "The Four Venomous Men" (332 billion VND), "Battle in the Air" (252 billion VND), "Detective Kien: The Headless Case" (249 billion VND), "Ancestral House" (242 billion VND), "Flip Face 8: The Embrace of the Sun" (232 billion VND), "Billion-Dollar Kiss" (212 billion VND), "Searching for Long Dien Huong" (196 billion VND), "Underground Tunnel: The Sun in the Darkness" (172 billion VND), and "Abandoning My Mother" (171 billion VND), bringing the total revenue of the top 10 Vietnamese films in 2025 to nearly 2,800 billion VND.
It's noteworthy that the featured films are quite diverse in subject matter and genre. 2025 marked the impressive return of historical and revolutionary war films with "Red Rain" and "Tunnels: The Sun in the Dark." Alongside these, entertaining films, psychological dramas, family films, detective films, and action films continued to attract mainstream audiences. Even more significantly, musicals and documentaries such as "Homeland in My Heart," "Brother Says Hi: The Villain Who Created the Hero," "Fire Rain," "Brilliant Horizon," and Vietnamese animation also appeared in commercial theaters, creating a certain wave in a genre that was previously quite limited.
According to Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan, Chairwoman of the Vietnam Film Development Association (VFDA), the strong growth momentum in 2025 shows that Vietnam is among the fastest-growing film markets in the region, and even globally. Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan believes that the success of Vietnamese films in recent years has created a vibrant creative atmosphere, encouraging young filmmakers, independent projects, and attracting the attention of domestic and foreign investors.
According to Dang Tran Cuong, Director of the Vietnam Film Department, since the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnamese cinema has been one of the few markets to recover quickly and grow continuously. The box office records, especially the success of films on historical and revolutionary war themes in 2025, demonstrate a clear shift in filmmaking mindset, production organization, and the ability of Vietnamese filmmakers to win over audiences.
However, the growth picture of Vietnamese cinema also shows a clear differentiation. Alongside films that gross hundreds of billions of dong, many works leave theaters early, have low revenue, and suffer heavy losses. This gap reflects the harshness of the market and places increasingly high demands on script quality, production capacity, and distribution strategies.
Continuing the "galloping" momentum, developing in depth.
After a booming year, Vietnamese cinema enters 2026 with great enthusiasm. From the beginning of the year, a series of promising projects have been announced, ranging from psychological and social dramas, family films to historical and cultural films.
Among the highly anticipated films are "Thỏ ơi" by Tran Thanh – a director who has created many box office phenomena; "Báu vật trời cho" by Le Thanh Son; "Mùi phở" by Minh Beta – a rare Northern Vietnamese film to enter the Tet holiday film season in recent years; and "Tài" by director Mai Tai Phen, produced by My Tam. These projects demonstrate a continued trend of exploring contemporary life, human psychology, and stories relatable to urban audiences.
In the historical film genre, the project "Guardian of the Spirits - The Mystery of King Dinh's Tomb" has attracted particular attention from both professionals and audiences. Building on the success of previous films, "Guardian of the Spirits - The Mystery of King Dinh's Tomb" and the historical film genre are expected to continue to receive more systematic investment, ensuring both cultural and artistic value while meeting market demands.
Dr. Ngo Phuong Lan believes that the biggest challenge in the coming period is transforming phenomenal successes into sustainable trends. Vietnamese cinema needs to continue expanding the creative space for the new generation of filmmakers, encourage independent projects, and raise professional standards to gradually integrate more deeply with regional and international cinema.
Sharing the same viewpoint, Director of the Vietnam Film Department, Dang Tran Cuong, emphasized that the overarching goal of the film industry in 2026 is to maintain growth momentum and shift strongly towards in-depth development. The focus will be on improving the quality of films, paying attention to the entire value chain from script development, production organization, post-production to distribution and promotion. Vietnamese cinema will not stop at conquering domestic audiences, but aim to increase its presence on the regional and global film map. To realize this goal, the Film Department will continue to refine the policy framework, create a favorable environment for creativity; promote public-private partnership models; strengthen connections between training institutions and production businesses; and support the promotion of Vietnamese films at international film festivals and film weeks. The application of technology and digital transformation in film management and distribution is also identified as an important direction.
In the year of the Horse 2026, with the image of the horse – an animal symbolizing speed and endurance – Vietnamese cinema is expected to continue its "galloping" on its creative journey, bringing to the public impactful works and achieving new milestones, not only in domestic theaters but also internationally.
