This past weekend, Detective Kien, directed by Victor Vu, soared to the top of the Vietnamese box office, dramatically outpacing the long-dominant Face Off 8 from Ly Hai’s popular franchise.

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Scene from Face Off 8.

According to Box Office Vietnam’s statistics as of 6 a.m. on May 12, Detective Kien grossed approximately $1.26 million (VND 32.1 billion) over the weekend, selling more than 354,000 tickets across an impressive 7,000 screenings.

The film’s total earnings have now reached around $7.7 million (VND 197.3 billion), and it is expected to cross the $7.8 million (VND 200 billion) milestone today.

Meanwhile, Face Off 8, which had topped the box office the previous week, slipped to second place during its second week in theaters.

It brought in just $784,000 (VND 20 billion) over the weekend from 222,600 tickets and 5,440 screenings.

Although its ticket sales have slowed significantly, the film managed to hit the $7.8 million (VND 200 billion) mark by the afternoon of May 11.

   

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Dinh Ngoc Diep and Quoc Huy in Detective Kien.

This marks the first time that Ly Hai’s Face Off franchise has lost its dominant position at the box office during the lucrative April 30 holiday release window.

The drop in quality of the eighth installment, combined with the enthusiastic audience response to Detective Kien, led to a dramatic reversal in box office rankings.

Elsewhere, Marvel’s Thunderbolts was knocked down to fourth place by the Korean action blockbuster The Holy Night: Demon Hunters, starring Ma Dong Seok.

The Holy Night made a strong debut, grossing about $550,000 (VND 14 billion) with over 151,951 tickets sold, while Thunderbolts earned only $170,000 (VND 4.3 billion) over the same period.

The Marvel film has now reached a cumulative total of $990,000 (VND 25.2 billion) in Vietnam.

My Anh