Lee Yi-kyung starring 'Mẹ Ơi, Về Nhà' falls out of the top 10 at the Vietnamese box office after release

The Korean-Vietnamese co-production film ″Mẹ Ơi, Về Nhà (Mom, Come Home, Here I Am),″ starring Lee Yi-kyung, recorded a lower-than-expected audience turnout after its release in Vietnam. The film was released in Vietnam on the 10th of last month and was directed by Yoon Byung-ki. The cast includes Lee Yi-kyung, Hoang Nguyen Chi Bi, Choi Daniel, and Minh Ha. The runtime of the movie is 98 minutes. Lee Yi-kyung played the role of Hue Hoang, who was abandoned in Korea as a child and raised by his Vietnamese adoptive mother, Diem Hai. After his adoptive mother passes away, Hue Hoang returns to Vietnam carrying her ashes to find her hometown and fulfill her last wish. During this journey, he meets Diem Mi (played by Hoang Nguyen Chi Bi), a singer making a living in Vietnam, and Choi Daniel appears as Park Ha, Hue Hoang’s friend. Lee Yi-kyung shed his comedic image shown in the film ″645″ and challenged himself with a serious role portraying a character filled with the loss and loneliness of losing his mother. Local media praised Lee Yi-kyung’s performance for effectively expressing the gloomy and lonely Hue Hoang, breaking away from his previous comedic actor image. He actively participated in promotional activities as well. On the 6th of last month, Lee Yi-kyung attended the film’s unveiling event held in Ho Chi Minh City, shaking hands, hugging, and taking photos with the audience. At the end of the event, he knelt before the audience to express his gratitude, and local media reported that the audience responded with prolonged applause. However, the film did not achieve the expected results at the box office after its release. On the fifth day of its release, the 15th of last month, local media reported that amid foreign films dominating theaters, ″Mẹ Ơi, Về Nhà″ remained within the top 10 daily rankings. Although Lee Yi-kyung had gained recognition in Vietnam through the film ″645″ and the drama ″Marry Me, My Husband,″ his popularity did not translate into box office success. Locally, the lack of completion in the story was pointed out as the cause of the film’s poor performance rather than the actor’s performance. Meanwhile, Lee Yi-kyung was embroiled in controversy last year due to a privacy claim made by a woman. His agency classified the claim as false information and malicious rumors and proceeded with legal action against the author and distributors. Additionally, in May, it was revealed that he underwent an irregular tax audit by the National Tax Service during the operation of his one-person corporation and received a tax reassessment notice. The agency stated that the issue arose from differences in tax law interpretation regarding expense processing standards and denied any intentional income omission or fraudulent tax evasion.