Five lessons learnt from this year's movies

2009/11/14

Currently, chick-flick Pisau Cukur starring Maya Karin and Nor Fazura is heating up the box office.

The film hit the RM1 million mark on its fourth day of screening and is expected to collect more than RM2 million.

This was despite it playing against Hollywood's high-profile disaster film, Roland Emmerich's 2012.

A total of 18 local films had been shown this year and these are the five lessons that we've learnt from those movies.

Ghosts rule the box office

There is no denying the power of ghouls to lure movie-goers into cinemas. Six horror flicks opened and four became box office hits -- Jangan Tegur, Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak, Momok The Movie and Skrip 7707.

Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak cleverly combined the elements of horror and comedy to make RM6.2 million.

Jangan Tegur raked in RM3.4 million, Momok The Movie collected RM2 million while Skrip 7707 made more than RM1.5 million.

Jin Hutan and Rasukan Ablasa were exceptions, each collecting less than RM1 million.

The fact remains that ghost stories sell, and expect Malaysian producers to churn out more tales of the supernatural next year.

Big stars don't guarantee a box office hit

In the past, movie-goers went to see movies that starred big names like Erra Fazira, Awie, Ziana Zain, etc.

In fact, even in Hollywood, A-list stars like Tom Cruise, Eddie Murphy and Julia Roberts can't guarantee a hit movie.

This year, two films with major stars failed to lure the audience.

Sayang You Can Dance which starred Malaysia's award-winning actress Sharifah Amani and Indonesian heart-throb Samuel Rizal could hardly find an audience. It collected less than RM500,000.

Jin Notti, a film shouldered by two of Malaysia's biggest celebrities, Mawi and Fara Fauzana, went the same way. The duo could not attract their legions of fans to the movie.

Producer KRU Films had targeted at least RM3.5 million but the movie made less than RM1 million.

Hits like Jangan Tegur, Bohsia Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam and Jangan Pandang Belakang Congkak did not have big names.

Pisau Cukur is a success because it has the advantage of having major stars Maya Karin and Nor Fazura and it enjoyed a good buzz.

Musicals and epics are a no-no

Malaysian movie-goers don't watch local musicals nor epics, yet they did go crazy over Hollywood's Mamma Mia and High School Musical 3.

This year saw two Malaysian-made semi-musical films, Sayang You Can Dance and Yasmin Ahmad's Talentime, finishing as box office flops.

Next year, we have two high-profile musicals aiming to buck this trend.

They are Mamat Khalid's Estet and Edry Abdul Halim's Magika.

This year's only epic, Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang, tanked.

Don't underestimate the buying power of kids!

The year's biggest box-office film is the animated Geng Pengembaraan Bermula.

The film collected RM6.4 million. It was shown for almost two months in Malaysian cinemas, a rare occurrence for a local film.

The film's secret of success is simple -- kids!

By targeting the children, the film managed to lure the parents, too!

This winning recipe is used by Disney in marketing films for the teens like Hannah Montana The Movie, High School Musical 3 and Bolt.

Except for Les' Copaque, the producer of Geng Pengembaraan Bermula, Malaysian producers have yet to tap this lucrative market.

Good buzz sells movies

Forget spending a fortune on billboards and TV ads. If the audience doesn't like the film, clever marketing campaigns can't save it.

Syurga Cinta, Bohsia Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam and Papadom were examples of films that made money from good old word of mouth.

Jin Notti and Sifu & Tongga were examples of films that under performed due to poor buzz.