News

Lunar New Year is a key box office period in several Asian territories, but nowhere was it more hotly contested this year than in Vietnam, where several local, Japanese and Hollywood movies were slugging it over the week-long holidays (February 9-15).

Tran Thanh’s Mai, a romantic drama that delves into the psychology of its female protagonist, was the clear winner — at the time of writing it was topping the box office with a haul of VND400BN ($16.4M). Produced by Tran Thanh Town and Cj Hk Entertainment, a joint venture between Korea’s Cj Enm and local outfit HKFilm, the film has the potential to break the record set by Tran Thanh’s own The House of No Man, released this time last year, which is Vietnam’s highest ever grossing film with VND476BN ($19.4m).

Also released over the holidays, known as Tet in Vietnam, was Nhat Trung...

The period drama is the sixth film to reach vnd100 billion ($4m) this year.

Vietnamese period film The Last Wife has passed the vnd100 billion mark at the local box office, making it the sixth film to reach this milestone this year. It is equivalent to approximately $4m.

Directed by US-born Vietnamese filmmaker Victor Vu, the film has been dominating the Vietnamese box office since its opening on November 3. It crossed the $4.09m (vnd100bn) mark on December 8 for distributor Lotte Entertainment.

It also opened in North America through 3388 Films and Australia through VeOnline & Film Viet Tai Uc on December...

Vietnam’s economic hub will host the festival’s first edition in April 2024.

Vietnam is set to host the first ever Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival (Hiff) from April 6-13, 2024.

The festival will aim to promote the local film industry while positioning Hcm City, the country’s economic hub, as a “film city” in which to invest. It will be hosted by the People’s Committee of Hcm City and organised by the Department of Culture and Sports of Hcm City.

Hiff is designed to be a large-scale festival, with a red-carpet opening gala and an awards ceremony...