ATF: Jack Neo’s ‘Liang Xi Mei’ Heads MM2’s 2018 Slate
Prolific Southeast Asian production company, MM2 Entertainment has revealed several titles that will be part of its 2018 slate. The company’s chief executive Chang Long Jong announced the titles along with several of the talents involved at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum on Wednesday.
Headlining the slate is “Liang Xi Mei,” starring, co-written and directed by local superstar Jack Neo that will release in the 2018 Chinese New Year Holiday frame. Neo’s “Ah Boys To Men 4” is currently enjoying a successful theatrical run, and there are plans were to shoot and release the next part over the 2018 CNY holiday frame. Neo’s decision to take a temporary hiatus from the franchise resulted in a gap in the holiday release calendar that “Liang Xi Mei” will plug. Liang Xi Mei, as played by Jack Neo in drag, is a hugely popular Singaporean comedy character that used to appear on the Comedy Night variety show.
Another iconic comic Singaporean character Mr. Kiasu, created by Johnny Lau, will return in “Mr Kiasu: The Movie.” A director has not been set yet. Lau will serve as a producer.
Sam Loh, who made a splash with “Siew Lup” earlier this year, returns with an anthology film of three ghost stories “Hell Hole”. The project is supported by the Singapore Film Commission and will be co-produced by Vividthree Productions. Principal photography will commence in the first quarter of 2018.
In addition, MM2, in association with Clover Films and JAB Films, is producing “Zombiepura,” directed by Jacen Tan Alaric and Benjamin Heng. The film is supported by the Singapore Film Commission and received a new talent grant from the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore. Principal photography commences January 2018.
MM2 also has a Malaysian feature lined up – Teddy Chin’s “In My Heart,” the shoot for which will also commence in the first quarter of next year.
In the space of just 10 years, the company has grown from zero to become one of the leading film conglomerates in South East Asia. It spans from film and TV production, through distribution, to cinema exhibition and is now listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. In recent days it has completed the acquisition of Singapore’s number two cinema chain Cathay.
The company had organised a competition for emerging Hong Kong filmmakers. Projects by the winners – Jun Lee, Lam Sun and Nate Tse – will go into production during 2018 in association with One Cool Pictures.
MM2’s next release is Hsieh Chuan-yi’s Taiwanese feature “Take Me To The Moon,” in conjunction with Good Films Workshop. Starring Jasper Liu (“Second Chance”) and Vivian Sung (“Our Times”), the film will release in Taiwan Dec. 1 and in the rest of Southeast Asia in the coming weeks.
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