VIETNAM TARGETS TOP 10 GLOBAL CINEMA MARKETS

Moviegoers buy popcorn and drinks at a cinema concession counter in HCMC - PHOTO: GIA NGHI

HCMC – Vietnam’s film industry is aiming to become one of the world’s top 10 cinema markets as ticket sales reached more than 70 million and box office revenue approached VND5.6 trillion in 2025, according to data released by CJ CGV Vietnam.

The figures were presented at a strategic partner conference held by CJ CGV Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City on March 11, which brought together producers, directors, filmmakers and cinema operators, reported the Vietnam News Agency.

According to Nguyen Hoang Hai, content director at CJ CGV Vietnam, the market recorded strong growth in 2025. Box office revenue rose 24% from 2024 to nearly VND5.6 trillion, while ticket sales increased 26% to more than 70 million.

Domestic films accounted for 62% of the market, up from 43% in 2024. Within Southeast Asia, Vietnam ranked second in ticket sales in 2025, behind Indonesia, which sold about 100 million tickets despite having a population of more than 280 million.

Vietnam’s ticket sales exceeded those of Thailand, which recorded 36.7 million tickets, Malaysia with 34.9 million, and Singapore with 7.7 million.

Average cinema attendance in Vietnam reached 0.7 visits per person in 2025. The figure remains lower than Singapore’s 1.3 visits and Malaysia’s one visit per person.

CGV’s data also showed that average revenue per Vietnamese film rose to about VND69 billion in 2025, compared with VND62 billion in 2024 and VND18 billion in 2019.

However, many films generated box office revenue of between VND20 billion and VND50 billion, indicating that investment in film production still carries significant risk.

By genre, historical films accounted for nearly one-fourth of total box office revenue in 2025, followed by drama at 22%, comedy at 18%, and horror at 15%. Romance films made up about 7%.

A survey of more than 3,000 moviegoers by CJ CGV Vietnam found that word-of-mouth influenced 49% of ticket purchases.

About half of the audience watched films during the first week of release, compared with 36.7% in the second week and just over 13% in the third week.

The survey also found that star appeal influenced 62.8% of ticket purchase decisions.

Source: The Saigon Times