Comedy ‘6/45’ becomes highest-grossing South Korean film in Vietnam

The previous record holder was “Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula,” which made VND83 billion in 2020.

“6/45” is also the first Korean film to exceed the VND100 billion mark in Vietnam.

The film earned VND27 billion ($1.1 million) in the first three days after its release. This milestone is also an all-time high for a Korean film’s domestic box office opening.

Its popularity showed no sign of cooling down in the second week when ticket sales went up 40% compared to the previous week. Particularly on the weekend of Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, it raked in VND39 billion.

The film takes place on the border with North Korea. Chun Woo (played by Go Kyung-pyo), a South Korean soldier, got a lottery ticket that wins $5.7 million, but accidentally lets it fly across the border and into the hands of North Korean soldier Yong Ho (played by Lee Yi Kyung).

Chun is unable to retrieve it and Yong cannot travel to South Korea to collect the money.

Things get interesting when colleagues discover the comical situation and seek to participate in the negotiations.

The two sides exchange Chun Woo and Yong Ho as hostages. The swap is full of humorous anecdotes as both battle to keep their identities hidden in their new military troops.

After opening in Korea at the end of August, the film quickly rose to the top of the box office and stayed there for nine days. The work earned numerous plaudits from the audience and presently has an IMDb rating of 7.5/10.

The film also gained popularity on social media, with over six million views on TikTok for audience reaction videos.

In addition to winning the jackpot, numerous foreign films maintained their popularity at the Vietnamese box office during the weekend.

“Avatar” achieved over VND2.4 billion in its second week of re-release. After 13 years, viewers continue to flock to theaters to see filmmaker James Cameron’s blockbuster in 4K format. “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” grossed VND1.2 billion as a rebroadcast of a classic franchise beloved by many fans.

“Love Destiny The Movie” grossed VND2.3 billion, increasing the total earnings to VND82 billion after a month of release, making it the most popular Thai film of all time in Vietnam.

While imported movies have been dominating the local box office, home-grown films have consistently underperformed in the past three months with many losing tens of billions of Vietnamese dong.