Before signing off for a few weeks holiday, Streamlined is taking the temperature of the summer box office, along with a round-up of half-year box office results, in major Asian markets.
There is so much drama currently going on in the world between wars, natural disasters, political unrest, arson attacks, Donald ducked and Biden bowed out, that visiting the cinema almost seems like a trivial pastime. But perhaps we all need the air-conditioned sanctity of a cinema hall this summer. It’s either that or hibernate until the typhoons, wildfires and political rhetoric is over.
Venice and Toronto announced their line-ups this week. I’ve started compiling a list of films selected for the autumn film festivals from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, with names of sales agents where known. It’s a work-in-progress so please DM me if any additions.
Back to box office. While the mantra in North America is “survive until 2025”, the reduced Hollywood pipeline has been a boon for local productions in some international markets, although most are becoming increasingly polarised between one or two massive hits and a long line of misses. Perhaps it was ever so, but in the post-pandemic world, the gap between winners and losers appeared to have widened.
SOUTHEAST ASIA: Grandma Makes Millions
Thai tear-jerker How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has grossed $33.5m across Southeast Asia in the past few months, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2024 in Thailand and Singapore; the highest-grossing Asian film of all time in Indonesia; and the highest-grossing Thai film of all time in Malaysia, Philippines and Myanmar. The family drama, about a young man taking care of his terminally ill grandmother, initially with an eye on her inheritance, also had the highest opening weekend of all time for a Thai film in Australia and New Zealand and is currently awaiting censorship clearance for a release in China.
Produced by Thailand’s GDH 559 and starring Thai singer Putthipong Assaratanakul (aka Billkin), the film is resonating with Asian audiences due to its strong family themes and emotional content – supported by a popular marketing technique involving TikTok videos of crying audience members (which was also used to propel Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum to a $53m hit in China in 2019). WME Independent is handling international sales and talks are on-going for remakes in some territories.
It’s worth noting that two Southeast Asian markets have had their biggest locally-produced hits of all time over the past year – Rewind in the Philippines last Christmas and Mai in Vietnam over Lunar New Year 2024 – which were both family dramas that grossed more than $20m apiece. Indonesia had its biggest hit of all time back in 2022 with horror film KKN Di Desa Penari, which pulled in more than 10 million admissions.
Vietnam also had a big hit this year with Ly Hai’s Face Off 7: One Wish, which grossed around $19m in April, but no other local films have matched this success since. Mai and Face Off 7 together accounted for around 36% of Vietnam’s total box office in the first half of the year, ranking first and second and followed by Korean horror Exhuma, Japanese anime Doraemon: Nobita’s Earth Symphony and Hollywood’s Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire rounding out the top five. Box Office Vietnam estimates half year box office at around $101m, an increase of nearly 25% compared to the same period last year.
Philippines has not had any big local hits released in the first half during which Disney’s Inside Out 2 topped the box office followed by Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, A Quiet Place: Day One and Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes (more on this market in the second part of the Streamlined Guide To The Philippines next month; first part here).
Indonesia’s local films are having a scorching year, accounting for the top five releases between January and June, according to figures from Bicara Box Office. Agak Laen is the biggest film over this period, raking in more than nine million admissions to become Indonesia’s second-biggest film of all time; followed by Vina: Before 7 Days, Ipar Adalah Maut, KKN prequel Dancing Village: The Curse Begins and Joko Anwar’s Siksa Kubur. Four of these titles are horror films, highlighting the popularity of the genre in Indonesia, with the only exception being romantic drama Ipar Adalah Maut.
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is the biggest foreign film in Indonesia so far this year, ranking sixth overall, followed by Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire; Korean horror Exhuma, Inside Out 2 and Kung Fu Panda 4.
INDIA: Telugu Trumps Hindi
After making some gains in 2023, Hindi-language films had an underwhelming first half of 2024, with just three films in the top ten (Fighter, Shaitaan and Munjya) according to figures from Ormax Media. Telugu-language sci-fi action film Kalki 2898 AD was the top grosser from January to June with $92.2m (INR7.7bn), accounting for 15% of box office and taking more than three times the number two film, Siddharth Anand’s action drama Fighter, which pulled in $29m (INR2.4bn). Other Telugu titles in the top ten included Hanu-Man ranking third and Guntur Kaaram ranking sixth.
Malayalam films are having a stellar year at the Indian box office with three titles in the first half top ten – Manjummel Boys, The Goat Life and Aavesham – increasing market share from 5% to 15%. However, no Tamil films made it into the top ten. Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is the only Hollywood film in the top ten, ranking seventh with $16.2m (INR1.4bn).
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