Although the past week saw three foreign films climb the Vietnamese box office charts, their revenues were quite modest. Goodbye Gohan grossed less than 20 billion VND after more than a week of release. While it set a record in its home country with tens of millions of USD in revenue, the Korean film *Ma da: The Man-Eating Lake* has only earned just over 12 billion VND in Vietnam. Among the foreign films, *Doraemon: Nobita and the Castle Under the Sea* (new version) is the most optimistic, with current revenue around 60 billion VND, largely thanks to the enduring appeal of the brand to Vietnamese audiences.
It is evident that, despite continued massive imports, the commercial effectiveness of foreign films has significantly declined. In 2025, over 300 foreign films were released in Vietnam – the highest number since 2019 – but box office revenue only accounted for about 38%, with the remainder belonging to Vietnamese films. Compared to the period from 2016-2019, when foreign films once held about 75% of the market share, this represents a nearly 50% drop.
The slump is evident across most genres, including those once considered "box office guarantees." Most recently, films like Super Mario, The Hunger Games 2, The Devil Wears Prada 2, and Michael Jackson all performed below expectations. Upcoming major franchise installments such as Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune Part III, and Avengers: Doomsday are also considered unlikely to achieve high box office success in Vietnam.
Vietnamese films are improving day by day and possess a distinct advantage in terms of local storytelling and emotion, something foreign films struggle to achieve. However, the Vietnamese film market lacks animated films, a crucial genre due to its ability to reach family audiences. Therefore, animated films are seen as a "lifeline" for foreign films. A series of major upcoming projects, including Doraemon 45, Minions and the Monsters, Paw Patrol (dinosaur movie), Conan Movie 29, and Toy Story 5, are expected to draw audiences back to theaters.
For domestic film producers, this attractive market is also on their radar. Although experiments with films like "Trạng Quỳnh nhí: Truyền thuyết Kim Ngưu," "Zombie Mắt Lác," "Wolfoo," and "Cuộc đua tam giới" haven't been entirely successful, they represent the first steps towards the ambition of building a film industry capable of meeting the diverse needs of domestic audiences.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/cuoc-doi-vai-o-phong-ve-post854263.html
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