SEOUL, March 23 (AJP) - With The King’s Warden the latest South Korean movie set for release in Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country is emerging as a strategic growth market for Korean cinema.
The film, which drew over 14 million viewers at home, is set in Yeongwol county in Korea’s Gangwon province, and depicts the relationship between a young dethroned king and a village chief.
It is set to open on April 10 across more than 200 screens, including CGV, Lotte Cinema, and major local chains, according to CJ HK Entertainment, the Vietnamese unit of CJ ENM,
Vietnam’s film market has been expanding rapidly in recent years, since returning in 2022 to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency.
Korean companies, particularly CJ ENM’s Vietnamese unit, have played a major role in this growth. Since entering the market in 2014, CJ HK has participated in the production, investment and distribution of more than 20 movies. It led the production of Mai (2024) and Nha Ba Nu (2023), which ranked first and second in Vietnam’s all-time box office, and in 2025 placed The Ancestral Home among the country’s top 10 hits, ranking seventh overall.
Industry observers say the relationship is evolving beyond content exports to co-production, with Korean firms shifting from external suppliers to local partners.
Released in Vietnam on Aug. 1 last year, Leaving Mom was a co-invested project between Korean and Vietnamese production companies. Directed and written by a Korean filmmaker, the film was shot in both countries with a joint cast and crew. It surpassed its break-even point within three days with 840,000 admissions and went on to top the box office for 15 consecutive days, exceeding 2 million viewers.
According to distributor Showbox, Exhuma drew more than 2.23 million viewers in Vietnam within 17 days of its release in March 2024, surpassing previous records. It also posted the highest opening-day and opening-weekend revenues for a Korean film in the market.
Vietnam has emerged as a key partner for Korean film collaboration, offering a more open production environment compared with China and Japan. CJ CGV and Lotte Entertainment together hold about 54 percent of the multiplex market, providing strong distribution infrastructure for Korean content.
At the same time, Vietnam’s domestic film industry share of box office revenue rose from 29 percent in 2019 to about 70 percent in 2025. Total box office revenue reached a record 5.59 trillion dong ($312 million) in 2025, up 24 percent from 2024 and more than 35 percent from 2019, with annual ticket sales exceeding 70 million.
This contrasts with South Korea’s film market, which remains in a prolonged slowdown. Theater admissions fell 32.5% year-on-year to about 42.5 million in the first half of 2025, while revenue dropped 33.2%. Film production has also declined significantly, and the expansion of streaming platforms continues to weigh on both theatrical and secondary markets.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
