Recently, local movies fail to ignite much sparks as the industry hoped for. With an exception of the horror movie KHURAFAT: PERJANJIAN SYAITAN which made RM8 million in January and epic movie HIKAYAT MERONG MAHAWANGSA at RM6.5 million in March, the rest of the highly-anticipated movies fizzle (such as star-studded comedy CUN) in the box-office.
But MIG Productions, who is responsible for the upcoming May 12 release of a gangster movie called KONGSI remains optimistic about re-ignite the sparks in the local box-office. Its chief executive officer David Teo said KONGSI will made a milestone by distributing 100 film prints to cinema operators en route for the opening.
"This is the biggest number of film prints ever made for a local film."
Typically, local film producers will distribute an average of 50 film prints to cinema operators. But previously the biggest number of film prints ever made for a local film is 2 ALAM at 83. Yet that movie only managed to collect RM440,000 in the box-office.
"Previously, only major Hollywood films like Harry Potter and Transformers series had 100 film prints. Kongsi is proof that a local film has the demand from both movie-goers and cinema-operators."
Anticipation is very high for KONGSI, which is directed by Farid Kamil. It tells the story of of a flamboyant hitman, Tumulak (Shaheizy Sam), who is hired to kill gangsters in the city. However, despite ridding the city of criminals, his actions are not condoned by police who are out in full force to capture him.
"History is in the making and we are hoping for the best."
David Teo is targeting KONGSI to hit RM10 million in the box-office, judging by its element of the movie as well as banking on the lead actor Shaheizy Sam who recently voted as Malaysia's Most Popular Star by Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian. In fact, he proves to be not one, but two box-office draw in the past -- ADNAN SEMPIT (RM7.6 million) and NGANGKUNG (RM8.4 million).
The rest of the winning elements are director Farid Kamil, who became a critical sensation after his V3 SAMSENG JALANAN managed to collect RM3.9 million despite its notorious 18PL rating. Finally, it's refreshing to release an action comedy at this time of the year especially since local cinema has been churning out with a number of horror movies for the past five weeks.
Can KONGSI transcends its high anticipation into box-office gold? We can only wait and see.
In the meantime, here's the trailer for the movie below.