After a four-year hiatus, "Running Man Vietnam" is back ― and viewers are sprinting with it.
The Season 3 premiere of "Running Man Vietnam" (Chạy ngay đi), titled “The First Hunt,” debuted Oct. 4 on HTV7 and quickly shot to No. 1 among weekly variety shows in the country within four days. Online views have already neared 9 million and are on pace to cross the 10 million mark, while the show also topped real-time search trends and led social buzz charts ― a clean sweep of ratings and conversation to kick off the new season.
Fueling the frenzy is the high-profile return of Trấn Thành, the Vietnamese A-lister who made a big impression in Season 1 and has twice broken Vietnam’s all-time box office records. Local audiences are raving about the fresh cast chemistry, cinematic editing, and high-stakes game design ― with many praising the overall upgrade in production quality.
The feat is especially notable given the show’s tougher Saturday primetime slot this year, a testament to the enduring pull of the original SBS series "Running Man." “I was blown away by the relentless passion of Trấn Thành and the Vietnamese cast,” said director Kim Dong-wook. “We’ve packed the season with twists on top of twists ― stay tuned. At this pace, we might just rewrite the history of Vietnamese variety.”
Co-produced by SBS Studio Prism and Vietnam’s FOREST STUDIO, "Running Man Vietnam" Season 3 continues the format’s successful localization streak across Asia. The Vietnamese franchise has been a standout since 2019: Season 1 was named Vietnam’s Variety Show of the Year, and Season 2 led its time slot.
“We expect the third season of 'Running Man Vietnam' to play a key role in expanding K-content globally,” said Kim Soo-hwan, team leader at SBS Studio Prism’s Global Business Center. “Look out for our Global Running Man co-productions rolling out next year in countries like Thailand and the Philippines.”
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Sun-ae)