Vietnamese cinema in 2025 will grow strongly

A scene from the movie “Red Rain”. The movie created a trend of “Vietnamese audiences going to see Vietnamese movies”. Photo: Producer

Vietnamese film revenue grows

In discussions on cultural industrialization strategy from 2020-2025, cinema is always expected to be a fast-growing cultural industry, soon integrating into the world , and will be an industry that not only "spends money" but also "makes money", generating high profits, to promote the remaining cultural sectors.

However, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, cinema faced many difficulties, from quality, quantity of films, to revenue when theaters were continuously closed.

From 2022-2023, Vietnamese films have been continuously losing money, many of which have been labeled “disasters” when released in theaters. The number of films that earned “hundreds of billions” in revenue in 2022 can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

In 2023, Vietnamese film revenue is about 1,563 billion VND. This number will increase to 1,900 billion VND in 2024, thanks to the film "Mai" by Tran Thanh, which achieved a record revenue of 550 billion VND. Only 2 films by Tran Thanh and Ly Hai have achieved more than half of the revenue of all Vietnamese films released in theaters in 2024.

Even the most optimistic people may find it hard to believe that in 2025, Vietnamese films will continuously have films worth several hundred billion VND. 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 that earned "hundreds of billions" in revenue, in which the strong rise of State-owned films was something no one expected, when "Red Rain" of the People's Army Cinema reached the finish line of 714 billion VND - becoming the work with the highest revenue of all time.

Currently, “Fighting in the Air” by People’s Police Cinema is “making waves” in theaters, receiving a “shower” of praise from audiences and experts for its script, production organization, and impressive acting cast. “Fighting in the Air” is predicted to earn 300 billion VND in revenue when it leaves theaters.

The Vietnamese film market in 2025 shows a diversity and richness in topics. If in previous years, the market was still divided by "seasons", Vietnamese films only waited for Tet and holidays to be released in theaters, and focused mainly on genres that sell tickets easily such as comedy, psychological romance, and horror.

2025 is a dramatic change when it breaks the seasonal filmmaking method, the number of theaters increases, many quality projects. In particular, the market also recorded unexpected usurpations, when Tran Thanh no longer holds the revenue record, the No. 1 position at the box office fell into the hands of female director Dang Thai Huyen.

The trend of Vietnamese people watching Vietnamese movies

Focusing resources on developing domestic cinema, limiting "cultural invasion" and box office dominance of international cinema - is the path that many countries such as China and South Korea have pursued.

When promoting the film industry, Korea has created many movements, "Koreans watch Korean movies", and at the same time, increased investment in the quality and quantity of Korean movies released in theaters. In just a short time, Korean cinemas are no longer dominated by Hollywood blockbusters, the strong rise has helped Korean movies dominate the domestic market. Now, Korean cinema has become a "money-making" industry with unbelievable development.

For a long time, the Chinese government has also developed a policy of giving priority to domestically produced films. China has limited the influence of foreign films to a high level. On each important holiday, the number of foreign films scheduled for screening accounts for only 10-20% (only about 2 films out of a total of 8-9 films). Foreign works cannot compete for screenings and the influence and promotion compared to blockbuster films produced in China.

The foundation for optimizing development resources for domestic cinema starts with the support of audiences at 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 films” been so strong.

Since “Tunnel: Sun in the Dark”, “Red Rain” to “Air Deathmatch”, on all social networking forums there are groups of audiences calling each other to go see Vietnamese movies.

Vietnamese movies and actors became hot topics of discussion, war movies were shared widely, and images from Vietnamese works were spread widely.

In the first 9 months of 2025, Vietnamese films have beaten foreign blockbusters in terms of screenings and revenue even during the holidays. Currently, “Fighting in the Sky” also overwhelms all other foreign films, even though Leonardo DiCaprio’s “Battle After Battle” is praised as an “excellent masterpiece”.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/dien-anh-viet-nam-2025-vuon-len-manh-me-3378449.html