Psychological horror “Arithmadtic,” set in an elite international school, leads a genre-heavy slate that Vietnam’s Bee Entertainment is presenting to buyers at Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
Vietnamese films grossed more than VND3 trillion ($114 million) at home in 2025, outperforming international titles in the local market for the first time. Bee is aiming to take that momentum abroad.
Its slate pairs four features, all set for release in 2027, with three long-form TV dramas at various stages of production. The company is using the market to find partners for investment, co-development and distribution, as well as rights licensing deals.
Anh Thu, known for the 2007 Vietnam-South Korea co-production “Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait,” and Lam Thanh My (“Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass”) star in “Arithmadtic,” or “Cong Tru Nhan Chia” in Vietnamese. The film’s campus is styled after the Dark Academia aesthetic. The story centers on a transfer student’s enigmatic bond with a teacher, as a string of unexplained, supernatural incidents cracks the school’s polished facade.
Phuong Tra My, who played the lead in “The Third Wife,” which premiered at Toronto and won the NETPAC Award, joins the cast alongside Chu Anh Tuan, Cong Ninh, Hoang Minh Hung and Dac Thang. The film is directed by Irving Ly, whose short “Close the Eye to See” played BFI Flare and the Korea Queer Film Festival and won a Silver Kite at Vietnam’s 2025 Golden Kite Awards. It opens in January 2027.
Three more features are set for release across 2027. Tran Nhan Kien, who trained at the Asian Film School and took part in the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival’s B.I.G NAFF Fantastic Film School, directs “The Step-Mother.” It follows a boy who has lost his father, as his relationship with his stepmother moves from conflict and misunderstanding to the blurry line between strictness and care. It is dated for the second quarter.
Pom Nguyen directed “The Corpse” franchise, whose first two installments grossed more than VND280 billion ($10.7 million) combined. Next up from Pom Nguyen is “How to Find a Fortune in 60 Days,” which combines action, comedy and family drama, due in the third quarter. Le Ha Nguyen’s “Dealing With a Ghost,” a horror romantic comedy, closes the film slate with a fourth-quarter release.
On the series side, “The Unrecognized Heir,” an 80-episode family drama directed by Trac Huynh Nhat Tan, began airing on VTV9 in December 2025 and has already drawn 1 billion views across social media platforms, according to the company. “A Deal With God,” a 65-episode series directed by Dang Minh Quoc, mixes family drama with comedy and fantasy. Trac also directs “Destined to Find You,” an 80-episode romance now in post-production.
A subsidiary of Bee Comm, Bee Entertainment invests in, produces, releases and sells both Vietnamese and foreign films. Founded in 2009, Bee Comm produces the Vietnamese edition of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and the social-impact program “Mai Am Gia Dinh Viet” (“The Vietnamese Family Shelter”).
The ACFM runs through Oct. The 31st Busan International Film Festival closes Oct. 15.
Source: variety.com
