Trại buôn người (“Human Trafficking Camp”), the first feature by director Toni Dương Bảo Anh, had taken about VND485bn ($18.8m) in Vietnam by midday on Monday 26 October, a month after release, according to Box Office Vietnam figures reported by VnExpress and Lao Động. That puts it ahead of Lý Hải’s Face Off 7: One Wish (Lật mặt 7: Một điều ước, VND483bn) and third among Vietnamese films at the local box office.
Key facts
- Trại buôn người: directed by Toni Dương Bảo Anh, written and produced by Mèo Bích Trang (Chói Entertainment), released by Galaxy Studio on 25 September.
- Total: about VND485bn ($18.8m) by 26 October, per Box Office Vietnam; the top Vietnamese film of 2026 so far.
- Vietnamese all-time ranking: Red Rain VND713.8bn, Mai VND551bn, Trại buôn người VND485bn, Face Off 7: One Wish VND483bn.
- Rated T18 (over-18s only), 135 minutes; a T13 version is being edited, with no release date.
- Weekend of 23–25 October: previews of Karaoke Murder (Án mạng karaoke) took the No. 1 spot, passing VND32bn ($1.24m).
Vietnam’s biggest local hits have tended to arrive with a holiday attached. Mai and The House of No Man (Nhà bà Nữ) opened at Lunar New Year, and Lý Hải’s Face Off films traditionally open before the 30 April break. Trại buôn người opened on an ordinary Friday in late September. A Box Office Vietnam representative told VnExpress that Lunar New Year is no longer a required slot for big local films. For producers planning release dates, that changes what a non-holiday weekend is assumed to be worth.
How the run built
It reached VND100bn in about three and a half days and VND300bn within 12 days. Báo Lạng Sơn, citing Box Office Vietnam, put Sunday 4 October at VND40.06bn ($1.55m) from 424,338 tickets on 5,656 screenings, close to 90% of that day’s national takings; the No. 2 film made about VND1.3bn.
Galaxy Studio announced VND400bn after three weeks in a statement on LinkedIn. Over the latest weekend it added more than VND11bn ($426,000), according to VOH, on about 2,000 screenings a day, down from more than 5,500 in its second week.
No outlet gave a total admissions figure. The 4 October numbers imply an average ticket of about VND94,400 ($3.65); at that price, VND485bn would be roughly 5.1 million tickets. That is our estimate, not Box Office Vietnam’s.
Where it sits among Vietnamese films
| Rank | Film (director, year) | Gross |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Rain (Mưa đỏ, Đặng Thái Huyền, 2025) | VND713.8bn |
| 2 | Mai (Trấn Thành, 2024) | VND551bn |
| 3 | Trại buôn người (Toni Dương Bảo Anh, 2026) | VND485bn |
| 4 | Face Off 7: One Wish (Lý Hải, 2024) | VND483bn |
Source: Box Office Vietnam, as reported by Lao Động and Tuổi Trẻ. Nominal figures, not adjusted for inflation; Tuổi Trẻ and Thanh Niên give the new entry as VND484bn.
The record has moved quickly: The House of No Man set about VND475bn in 2023, Mai VND551bn in 2024 and Red Rain, a war drama, passed VND700bn in 2025, Lao Động noted. Trại buôn người has also passed Bunny!! (Thỏ ơi), Trấn Thành’s Lunar New Year release, to lead 2026. VnExpress says Dương Bảo Anh now holds the record for the highest-grossing debut by a Vietnamese director. The gap to Mai is about VND66bn.
The T13 cut
The release version is rated T18 for its violence. The team is now editing a T13 cut, for viewers aged 13 and over, aimed at secondary-school pupils, a group the filmmakers describe as easy prey for online job scams, VnExpress reported. The director told Báo Lạng Sơn that the producers would trim the harshest scenes. No date has been set.
Who made it
The film follows Ny, played by Steven Nguyễn, a young man from the Mekong Delta who lets himself be taken into a cross-border scam compound to rescue his younger sister. Mèo Bích Trang and Dương Bảo Anh spent five years on it, three on the script, Báo Lạng Sơn reported; he previously staged action, including in Bollywood.
Galaxy Studio, the distributor, lists Red Rain among its credits and runs more than 30 cinema complexes, Variety reported in July, when executive chair Dinh Thanh Huong said Vietnamese films took 70.6% of the national box office in the first five months of 2026. Box Office Vietnam puts 2025 at more than VND6,140bn in total, with local films at 61.4%. On our calculation, this one film has grossed the equivalent of about 8% of last year’s entire market.
The chart around it
Karaoke Murder, a comic whodunnit directed by Hoàng Lê and starring Vân Dung and Đoàn Thiên Ân, began previews on 21 October ahead of its official release on 30 October. Over 23–25 October it sold 231,509 tickets from 8,997 screenings and passed VND32bn, VOH said, citing Box Office Vietnam. Distributor 3388Films plans to open it in 10 more markets over the Halloween weekend, including Japan, the UK and the US, Viet Nam News reported.
Third was the Thai horror Death Whisperer: Saming the Werebeast (Quỷ ăn tạng 4: Hổ tinh), with VND40bn ($1.55m) after 10 days, Tuổi Trẻ reported. Chị chị em em 3, which also stars Steven Nguyễn, opens next weekend.
What is not known
Box Office Vietnam is an independent tracker; its figures are gross, unaudited and not the distributor’s revenue. Galaxy Studio has not published admissions or the budget. Some cinema listings and Viet Nam News use the English title The Journey of Heroes; Galaxy Studio’s own English statement keeps the Vietnamese title. For other Asian charts, see our Korea weekend report, our China report and the Box Office section.
Our reading
The run argues against the holiday calendar Vietnamese producers build their slates around. A debut with an 18-plus rating and no holiday reached the top three on word of mouth and screen dominance, which suggests audiences now follow the title more than the date.
For buyers in the region, the share matters more than the total. A local film taking close to 90% of a day’s national gross shows how much screen time a strong Vietnamese title can command against imports. The next evidence is whether the T13 cut adds a second wave, and whether Karaoke Murder’s day-and-date release outside Vietnam earns enough to make that the model for the next local hit.