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Vietnam’s Beta Media and Japan’s Aeon Entertainment have forged a joint venture that will plough $200m (VND5tn) into 50 premium cinema complexes in Vietnam and see the duo enter film production and distribution, opening up new horizons for the local film industry.

The first cinema complex under the Aeon Beta Cinema brand is expected to open its doors in 2025, with all 50 complexes to be built in provinces across Vietnam in the same year.

This strategic partnership leverages on the expertise of both parties. Aeon Entertainment is Japan’s largest cinema chain in terms of the number of theatres and screens,...

“Mai”, the latest drama romance film from the most commercially successful film director in Vietnam box office history, Tran Thanh, waltzes onto the international stage in grand style and is on track to capture the highest North America and international box office opening ever for a Vietnam film.

“Mai” stars the beloved Vietnamese actress Phuong Anh Dao and actor Tuan Trong, along with Vietnamese-American Hollywood actress Hong Dao, known for her role in Ali Wong's multiple Emmy-award winning series Beef.

The film opened this March 22nd weekend, via distributor 3388 Films, in an unprecedented same-day theatrical release in nearly 200 theaters in 9 countries in North America and Europe – marking the widest same-day theatrical release ever for a Vietnam film across these two continents. The film is now playing in the U.S., Canada, UK (England and Scotland), France, Germany, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

Mai notched a record-breaking half...

Exclusive: Specialty distributor 3388 Films has acquired rights to Vietnamese smash Mai, and has set a March 22 theatrical release across North America and Europe. From director Tran Thanh, the romance drama is now the No. 1 movie of all time in Vietnam, having crossed 500B Vnd ($20M) locally this past week.

Mai will go out via 3388 Films on March 22 in more than 100 locations throughout the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and more. This marks the widest opening weekend for a Vietnam-produced film in North America and Europe, and the first to have a same-day theatrical release across the two continents.

The film delves into the psychology of its eponymous protagonist played by Phuong Anh Dao. Restlessly haunted by the past, Mai is greeted by a new dawn when she reluctantly befriends the neighborhood ladies’ man. But when her yesterday catches up to her today, what will become of her tomorrow?...

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 46-title line-up was announced on Wednesday (April 19).

The inaugural Danang Asian Film Festival (Danaff) is set to be Vietnam’s first film festival organised regionally, following the promulgation of a new Cinema Law that came into effect in January this year.

Danaff is jointly organized by Vietnam Association of Film Promotion and Development (Vfda) and Da Nang Municipal People’s Committee, with the support of the Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema (Netpac). It will run from May 9-13 in the coastal city of Da Nang, situated in central Vietnam.

Vfda chairwoman and director of Danaff Ngo...

Aniplex and Crunchyroll of America’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village grossed $10.1 million this weekend in 1,780 theaters. That’s a fourth place finish at the domestic box office but still half the opening of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train which opened to a smash $21 million U.S. in April of 2021, going head to head with Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat.

It’s not apples to apples. The previous film was an original feature, this weekend’s is a mashup of episodes — specifically, Episodes 10 and 11 of the popular anime series’ ‘Entertainment District Arc’ as well as an extended Episode 1 of the anticipated ‘Swordsmith Village Arc’ combined into feature length and remastered in 4K.

The franchise is based on the serialized Japanese manga written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotouge and published between 2016 and 2020. After his family is viciously murdered, a kind-hearted boy...

Tran Thanh is a popular Vietnamese TV-show host, actor and, since recently, filmmaker who has found a formula that works, at least from a financial point of view, with the success of his debut “Bo Gia”. The recipe was simple: a family-themed comedy-drama with slight romantic overtones was released in the less-busy winter period and earned over 17 million dollars, mostly domestically and in the nearby territories. With his newest film, and his first solo directorial effort, “The House with No Man”, he upgraded the formula by amplifying the romantic angle and timing the release in the time of the Tet holiday (the fact that it is also close to the Valentine’s Day also helps), and it resulted in the income of 18 million dollars so far, before even opening outside Vietnam.

815 pictures is going to release Nha Ba Nu (The House with No Man) in North American in March 3rd.