In the first half of 2025, Vietnam's box office revenue surpassed 3 trillion VND, an increase of nearly 270 billion VND compared to the same period last year and reaching over 60% of the total revenue for the whole year of 2024. Of the 19 Vietnamese films released, 8 reached the 100 billion VND mark – an encouraging figure. Interestingly, the number of films suffering heavy losses decreased significantly.
On the surface, these statistics bring a sense of optimism to the film industry. Everyone understands that when a film breaks even or turns a profit, investment capital flows more quickly, making it easier to attract new resources, especially from investors outside the industry. This positive signal also opens up opportunities for subsequent projects to be more systematically invested in, both in scale and production process, contributing to increased professionalism in the entire market. Regarding revenue, while the element of luck cannot be ruled out, it's clear that filmmakers are quite good at understanding audience preferences. Instead of simply focusing on making the best possible film and letting the market determine revenue, proactively understanding audience needs helps minimize losses. Many producers, especially investors, are increasingly interested in risk management, that is, using resources efficiently, limiting losses, and maximizing opportunities. The most common strategy today is to focus on popular film genres. If the 2010s were the golden age of comedy, currently, the horror-supernatural genre is dominating, with more than half of Vietnamese films released in the first six months of 2025 being horror films. Many films in this genre have consistently achieved great success at the box office, even surpassing 100 billion VND. From a business perspective, this is a safe choice, easily recouping investment. However, many are concerned that this genre will fall into the same trap as comedy films in the past. This reality shows that dependence on audience taste may avoid risks today, but it creates another kind of risk in the future: saturation, monotony, and a gradual loss of trust from the audience.
For a film industry to establish a brand and reach further, besides serving what audiences "want to see," it should also define what audiences "should see"—that is, broadening tastes, guiding perceptions, and contributing to the enhancement of public aesthetics. This is precisely the greatest role and mission of the seventh art. Vietnamese cinema has learned a memorable lesson from "The Underground: The Sun in the Darkness "—a work once considered a "risky gamble" but a resounding success. We need more films with such a pioneering spirit. Because only diversity in genre, storytelling, perspective, and artistic style can create a solid foothold, especially when entering the international market, which always values uniqueness and cultural identity.
At the recent Da Nang Asian Film Festival 2025, South Korean film experts noted that Vietnamese commercial cinema is primarily focused on comedy, family, and horror. These genres offer low production costs and the potential for quick profits; however, they struggle to reach a global audience. Previously, at the first Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival in 2024, experts from Thailand warned that sticking to a single theme would alienate audiences and lead to boredom with domestic films, similar to what happened in Thailand with its horror-comedy genre.
For a film market to survive, it inevitably relies on the box office success of commercial films. However, to develop and establish a brand, art films play a crucial role. The responsibility and the answer lie not only with filmmakers but also require the cooperation of many levels, most notably the support from state-established and managed film development funds. This is also a lesson learned from the recent success of the South Korean film industry.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/dien-anh-viet-chon-an-toan-hay-dot-pha-post803565.html
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