Vietnamese horror hit ‘Lầu Chú Hoả: The Deadliest Mansion’ opens in North America Sept. 4

Mockingbird Pictures is bringing Vietnam’s found-footage horror breakout Lầu Chú Hoả: The Deadliest Mansion to AMC, Regal and Cinemark theaters across the United States and Canada on September 4, 2026, following its record-setting run at home.

TL;DR

• Lầu Chú Hoả: The Deadliest Mansion opens in North American theaters on September 4.
• It became Vietnam’s first theatrical found-footage horror release after debuting in June.
• The film topped Vietnam’s box office, passing 1 million admissions and roughly £2.2 million ($3 million) in grosses.
• South Korea’s Hive Media Corp — behind Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum — co-produced; no UK release has been confirmed yet.

A local legend goes wide

Directed by Hùng Trần, the film follows a group of young streamers who break into Saigon’s reportedly haunted Hứa family estate chasing views and money. Their livestream instead wakes a dormant force tied to the century-old “Ghost of the Hứa Family” legend, according to Variety.

The film became Vietnam’s first theatrical found-footage horror release and turned into a genuine breakout after its June debut, according to Variety. It topped the domestic box office, drew more than 1 million admissions and crossed VND78 billion (roughly $3 million) in cumulative grosses.

Vietnam box office gross: VND78 billion (~$3 million) Source: Variety

A Korean-Vietnamese partnership

The project was produced by Runup Vietnam alongside South Korea’s Hive Media Corp, marking Hive’s first production investment outside its home market, according to Dread Central.Hive has backed major Korean releases including 12.12: The Day and Harbin, along with the found-footage hit Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, which drew more than 2.6 million admissions in South Korea.

“Found footage has the power to make audiences feel as though they are experiencing the horror themselves,” producer Lee Jin Sung said, according to Bloody Disgusting.”Working with Hive Media Corp allowed us to bring that experience to a uniquely Vietnamese legend while preserving the identity and atmosphere that make the story distinctive.”

Mockingbird’s Phong Duong called it one of the most intense Vietnamese horror experiences in recent years, per Bloody Disgusting’s report. The North American rollout is part of the distributor’s wider push to bring Vietnamese commercial cinema to English-language markets.

No UK release date yet

No UK distributor, cinema date or BBFC rating has been announced for The Deadliest Mansion as of this writing. UK horror fans keen on the found-footage subgenre currently have Vietnamese-legend-inspired titles reaching Western theaters through festival and North American runs first, a pattern seen with several recent Asian horror breakouts before they secure UK distribution.

Readers who want a taste of the format closer to home can revisit how Blair Witch Project revolutionized horror marketing, the found-footage film that set the template The Deadliest Mansion now follows into theaters, or catch up on Lionsgate’s new Blair Witch movie, set for a 2027 release.

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Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed August 25, 2026.