Vietnamese blockbuster overwhelms US box office

According to Box Office Mojo, an American website that tracks box-office revenue, "Bo Gia" made the amount of money from May 28 to 30, placing it in tenth position for highest-grossing movies in the U.S.

The list is led by "A Quiet Place Part II" that earned $47.5 million, and "Cruella", $21.4 million.

Released by fledgling shingle 3388 Films on May 28, "Bo Gia" was shown in 19 theaters.

'Bo Gia' (Dad, I'm Sorry) poster for international markets. Photo courtesy of TT Town.

"Bo Gia", an unexpected contender from Vietnam, is moving up fast," according to Indiewire, an online publication covering film, TV, and digital news.

The movie has been shown mostly in California and Texas, and earned kudos from Vietnamese communities residing in these states.

It will expand to 38 theaters this week, marking the widest theater count of all time for a Vietnamese film on American giant screens.

The movie was previously shown in Singapore and Malaysia in April, after raking in VND400 billion ($17.4 million) to become the highest-grossing Vietnamese movie ever.

The film’s distributor, Galaxy Studio, has announced it is working with international partners to bring 'Bo Gia' to Asian countries like Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

The film is an adaptation of a hit web drama directed by Vu Ngoc Dang stars comedian and TV host Tran Thanh.

The web version, released on YouTube in early 2020, was the most viewed in Vietnam with its five episodes garnering more than 90 million hits.

It tells the story of Ba Sang, an old motorbike-taxi driver who lives in a low-income neighborhood of downtown Saigon and struggles to earn enough to take care of his family. Way too nice to his siblings and neighbors, Sang is routinely taken advantage of, to the ire of his son, a rising YouTuber who tries to force his father to change his ways.