From Eras Tour to V-pop: Vietnam takes concerts to the big screen

While a live concert may last only a few nights for a limited audience, bringing it to the big screen gives the performance a second life, reaching fans who missed out on the original show.

Concert: no longer necessarily a one-time experience

The concert-film model first gained traction in international markets, where major artists such as BTS, BLACKPINK, and Taylor Swift brought their live shows to cinemas.

Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour was a particularly notable example, grossing more than $261 million worldwide and showing how a concert could be transformed into a commercially successful cinematic product.

As the model makes its way into Vietnam, a growing number of local artists are bringing their live shows to cinemas, proving the format is moving far beyond isolated experiments.

In 2025, 'Anh Trai Say Hi: The Villain Who Made Heroes' became the highest-grossing Vietnamese concert film at the time, earning VND15.4 billion (US$590,000), while 'Tri Am: The One Who Keeps the Time', based on My Tam, a prominent Vietnamese singer, grossed VND12.3 billion ($471,000). 

Other artists, including Hoang Thuy Linh and Ha Anh Tuan, have also turned their concerts into films, while SOOBIN's 'All-Rounder' is set to follow.

Together, these releases point to a changing habit: audiences are becoming increasingly willing to buy a cinema ticket to relive a concert, turning what was once a one-off live event into content that can continue to reach audiences long after the stage lights go out.

A new business model 

The second life of a concert also creates new opportunities for both artists and cinemas. 

For artists, turning a live show into a film transforms a one-time event into a cinematic asset that can continue generating revenue and reaching audiences long after the original performance. 

For cinemas, concert films provide an additional source of content beyond traditional movie releases, particularly during periods with fewer major blockbusters.

The format is also pushing concert films beyond simple recordings of live shows. 

SOOBIN's 'All-Rounder', for example, uses 7.1 surround sound and cinema-quality visuals to recreate the scale and atmosphere of the original concerts for the big screen.

That changes the role of the audience, too. 

At a conventional screening, viewers are expected to sit quietly and watch. 

At a concert film, they may sing along, clap, cheer, or even dress as their favorite artist, bringing some of the energy of a live show into the cinema.

In this sense, the cinema becomes more than a place to watch a film. 

It becomes another stage, one where the audience is part of the experience.

But can every concert become a movie?

Not every concert film can guarantee a full house. 

'Vietnamese Concert Film: We Are Vietnamese' by Hoang Thuy Linh, for example, saw some days of weak ticket sales despite the singer's established fanbase. 

The case suggests that a popular artist does not automatically make a successful concert film.

Yet that does not mean the format lacks appeal. 

For some fans, a concert film can offer enough of the live experience to make the cinema ticket worthwhile. 

"It's not the same as being at the actual concert because you don't get all the effects and the atmosphere. But I still had so much fun. Being able to scream, cheer and sing along with other fans made it feel special, and the ticket was much cheaper than going to the concert," said Tram, 20, a fan of 'Anh Trai Say Hi'.

Her experience highlights what may determine whether a concert film works: it does not necessarily have to recreate the concert perfectly, but it needs to offer something audiences value, whether that is affordability, nostalgia or the chance to experience the show with other fans.

That becomes an increasingly important question as more Vietnamese artists bring their concerts to cinemas. 

Unlike The Eras Tour of Taylor Swift, which could draw on a vast global fanbase and reach audiences across multiple markets, V-pop concert films largely depend on a more concentrated domestic audience. 

As more releases compete for the same audience, a famous name alone may not be enough to fill cinema seats.

So, what makes a concert film worth paying for? Is it the chance to relive a concert fans missed, the communal experience of watching it with other fans, or the quality of the film itself?