AH BOYS TO MEN 3: FROGMEN sets new record during CNY!

23 Feb 2015

Singapore - AH BOYS TO MEN 3: FROGMEN 新宾正传：蛙人传 (PG13) tops the Lunar New Year box office and sets a new record by scoring the highest grossing opening weekend of all time for an Asian title. It's reported to have grossed S$2.83m over the 4-days from 66 screens.

The edited PG13 cut of DRAGON BLADE 天将雄师 opens in second place across 42 screens, generating a total of S$1.48m - the sixth biggest weekend debut for an Asian film. It's also the sixth edited release of the year but only the second in which an edited cut was released to allow for a lower rating.

Gross figures for the other new films are not available. These include FROM VEGAS TO MACAU II 賭城風雲 II (PG13 / 32 screens); TRIUMPH IN THE SKIES 衝上雲霄 (PG13 / 21 screens); KING OF MAHJONG 麻雀王 (PG13 / 16 screens); SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE (G / 21 screens) and 12 GOLDEN DUCKS 12 金鴨  (NC16 / 12 screens).

Jack Neo looks set to steal CNY weekend with ABTM3!

19 Feb 2015

Singapore - Six new mandarin movies will jostle for audiences' red packet dollars this Lunar New Year weekend. AH BOYS TO MEN 3: FROGMEN 新兵正传 III: 蛙人传 (PG13) - Jack Neo's sequel in name only to Singapore's highest grossing local film of all time is the widest release on an estimated 66 screens. The S$2.5m navy pic is likely to be the box office champion ahead of closest competitor DRAGON BLADE 天将雄狮 (PG13 edited) starring Jackie Chan which opens on 42 screens.

DRAGON BLADE will also have to fan off FROM VEGAS TO MACAU II 賭城風雲 II (PG13), a sequel to last year's box office hit with Chow Yun-Fat reprising his role as the god of gamblers. The Wong Jing helmed pic opens on 32 screens - the third widest new release.

KINGSMAN and SHADES lead box office

16 Feb 2015

Singapore - Restricted movies KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE (M18) and FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (R21) lead the box office this past weekend. KINGSMAN opened on 58 screens (including IMAX) and grossed US$985K. FIFTY SHADES is reported to have grossed US$664,819 (S$901,156) from 25 screens - a record for a R21 rated title over opening weekend (in terms of gross and number of screens).

Other debuts include black comedy THE VOICES (NC16) on 9 screens and the edited submarine thriller BLACK SEA (NC16) on 13.

DRAGON BLADE 天将雄狮 (PG13, edited) starring Jackie Chan gets a CNY head start with sneaks over the weekend. The film will sneak again on Chinese New Year's Eve with five other festive pics before opening next week.

JUPITER ASCENDING reaches no. 1!

9 Feb 2015

Singapore - JUPITER ASCENDING (PG13) debuts at no. 1 with 66 screens (including IMAX 3D and 3D) while Angelina Jolie's directorial effort UNBROKEN (PG) starts on 39 screens at no. 2. Former no. 1 AMERICAN SNIPER drops into third place with 29 screens.

The only other top ten debut is the M18 edited cut of WILD in ninth place. WILD is the fourth edited film to be passed this year and the third whose edit is partially or fully due to "language that denigrates religion or is religiously profane" (according to MDA's website). In all these cases, utterances of "Jesus F***ing Christ" or close variations were the key points of contention.

New releases that start outside the top ten include the Oscar nominated films STILL ALICE (PG13 / 8 screens) and A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (NC16 / 2 screens). The Chinese romance comedy MEET MISS ANXIETY 我的早更女友 (PG13) is new on 5 screens.

AMERICAN SNIPER holds at no. 1

2 Feb 2015

Singapore - AMERICAN SNIPER holds onto the no. 1 spot for a second weekend as it commands 49 screens (-5.77% change). MORTDECAI (NC16) is the highest debut of the week in the runner-up spot with 37 screens.

Other new entrants in the top ten include comedy THE WEDDING RINGER (NC16 / 24 screens) in fourth place; sci-fi youth pic PROJECT ALMANAC (PG13 / 26 screens) in seventh place and the George Lucas executive produced animated film STRANGE MAGIC (G / 18 screens) in eighth place.

Other new films include Tim Burton's BIG EYES (PG13 / 8 screens); Paul Thomas Anderson's INHERENT VICE (M18 / 5 screens); Thai horror GHOST COINS (NC16 / 5 screens); Korean gangster drama GANGNAM BLUES (R21 / 4 screens) and the sci-fi action VICE (NC16 / 8 screens), which is also the third edited release of the year, but the first in which a tighter rating would have allowed the film to be passed uncut.