Vietnam considered one of Asia’s fastest growing cinema markets

According to the article, although the previously state-run industry only opened its doors 10-15 years ago, box office was growing at a steady clip of 10% annually before the pandemic, overtaking Thailand, which has a much more developed and longer-established film industry.

Last year, Vietnam’s box office reached US$150 million, or around 90% of pre-pandemic levels, from a total of 1,100 screens. It is not bad for a market that in 2010 only had 90 screens and annual revenue of less than US$15 million.

The growth is due to a few factors, but one of the biggest is the multiplex building programmes undertaken by Korean exhibitors CJ CGV and Lotte Cinema, along with local studios Galaxy Cinema and BHD Star Cineplex, the site said.

Also driving the market is a lively local production sector that is experimenting with new genres and making a wider range of films - again an achievement considering that private companies were only allowed to start producing in the mid-2000s, the site noted.