Nhat Trung’s The Corpse is set to receive the biggest ever day-and-date opening for a Vietnamese film, riding a recent wave of success for horror titles from the country.
The feature will open in six territories worldwide on March 7, including the US, Australia, South Korea and Vietnam.
The story follows a couple who unleash a terrifying chain of events based around a cursed silver bracelet and a vengeful spirit after unearthing an ancient tomb on their land. Vietnam’s rich traditional funeral customs are featured, blending cultural significance with modern storytellling. The cast is led by Quang Tuan of the Hellbound Village series and Kha Nhu from Vietnamese Horror Story.
A simultaneous release is scheduled in Vietnam through CJ CGV VIetnam, South Korea (D-Station), the US (815 Pictures), Taiwan (Movie Cloud), and Australia and New Zealand (Infinity Entertainment). In Q2, the film will receive a release in Southeast Asia through Westec Media and includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
V Pictures handles international sales. The Ho Chih Minh City-based company was set up as the production arm of CJ CGV Vietnam in 2019 and branched out into international sales in 2023.
Vietnamese horrors have been thriving locally and abroad. Last year, local horror Ma Da became a smash hit, taking $5.1m (VND126bn) ranking as the third highest grossing local film in 2024 and the biggest local horror of all time in Vietnam. It also became the biggest Vietnamese film in Taiwan, taking $350,000.
International sales of Ma Da are also handled by V Pictures and was produced by Trung, director of The Corpse who has collaborated with CJ CGV Vietnam on several projects.
CJ CGV Vietnam, the local business operation of the South Korean cinema chain, is Vietnam’s largest cinema operator and film distributor for both local and foreign films, including Hollywood studios Warner Bros, Universal and Paramount.
According to CJ CGV Vietnam, the box office reached new heights in 2024, taking $165m (VND4.2 trillion), the highest ever. Topping the chart were two local films Tran Thanh’s Mai ($21m/VND520bn) and Ly Hai’s Face Off 7: One Wish ($19.6m/VND482bn). Both were distributed by CJ CGV and became the highest grossing film and the third highest grossing film of all time respectively.
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