Vietnamese films capture 70% of local box office in 2026
Vietnamese films capture local box office dominance at 70.6% in the first five months of 2026, up from 62.2% for all of 2025 and 42.6% in 2023, Galaxy Studio CEO Dinh Thanh Huong told DANAFF Industry Days in Danang while urging global co-productions to help Vietnam's film market scale beyond domestic success. The figures mark a rapid shift for a market that Galaxy Entertainment Holding's executive chair framed as having moved from emerging potential to commercial maturity.
Key Takeaways
- Vietnamese titles held a 70.6% domestic box office share through May 2026, rising from 62.2% in 2025 and 42.6% in 2023.
- Galaxy Studio chief Dinh Thanh Huong opened DANAFF Industry Days with a keynote pitching international co-productions, investment, and distribution partnerships.
- The 2025 market grossed more than $215 million on 70 million-plus tickets, with 47 Vietnamese releases versus 26 in 2024.
- Production budgets and genre diversity are climbing as Gen Z audiences drive digital ticket sales and word-of-mouth hits.
- DANAFF Industry Days connected Vietnamese studios with buyers from across Asia and the U.S. for slate presentations and one-to-one meetings.
Why Are Vietnamese Films Dominating the Domestic Box Office?
Speaking at the Furama Resort in Danang, Dinh delivered the opening keynote of the two-day industry program attached to the 4th Danang Asian Film Festival. Her presentation, titled "Vietnam: From Emerging Market to Film Nation," argued that Vietnamese cinema has passed the point of "potential" and entered a period of commercial and creative maturity.
The 2025 market posted gross box office revenue exceeding $215 million—a 22.5% year-on-year increase—on sales of more than 70 million tickets, with 47 Vietnamese titles released during the year, up from 26 in 2024. Dinh attributed the share surge partly to a generational shift: 69% of Vietnamese moviegoers are Gen Z, she said, and 72.8% of tickets are now purchased through digital platforms.
Word-of-mouth increasingly determines whether a title succeeds or fails, a dynamic that rewards breakout hits while punishing weak releases. For more on how regional markets are shifting, see our Streaming & TV Alerts coverage.
How Is Vietnam Scaling Film Production and Budgets?
Production budgets are rising in parallel with audience demand. Where major local projects carried price tags of VND40–50 billion ($1.52–$1.9 million) in 2023, Dinh said the market is now seeing productions budgeted at VND100–130 billion ($3.8–$4.9 million) and above.
She projected total Vietnamese film output to reach 80 titles by 2027, up from 47 last year, with production, distribution and marketing budgets projected to exceed $5 million per film. Genre diversification was cited as a key driver of audience expansion beyond comedy and family films.
Recent commercial performances in war, action, historical and detective genres sit alongside Vietnam's established strength in horror. Galaxy Studio credits include "Dreamy Eyes," "You and Trinh," "Bunny!!," "Detective Kien: The Headless Horror," and the record-breaking war epic "Red Rain."
What Global Partnerships Is Galaxy Studio Seeking?
The keynote doubled as a pitch to international buyers and distributors gathered at DANAFF Industry Days, running June 30 through July 1 alongside the broader festival. Dinh outlined five areas she hoped to develop with overseas partners: co-production, financial investment, distribution and marketing, technology and innovation, and intellectual property development.
"Cinema is not just a business," Dinh said. "Cinema is how a nation tells its own story." Galaxy Studio is the Vietnamese partner of Sony Pictures and operates more than 30 cinema complexes nationwide.
The new Industry Days initiative—launched by the Danang Asian Film Festival and the Vietnam Film Development Association—brought together Vietnamese studios including Galaxy Studio, BHD Vietnam Media Corp., Mockingbird Pictures, CJ HK Entertainment, and ProductionQ with international distributors from South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and the U.S., according to Variety.