Being Human, the latest movie directed by Jack Neo, released in Singapore a day before the scandal of his affair broke, has topped out at just over $700,000 at the local box office.
Compare this to Money No Enough 2's $3,389,709 and Ah Long Pte Ltd's $2,115,640, both movies also directed by Neo.
Was the scandal a factor in the weaker box office performance of Being Human? Or is it because the movie didn't have a strong enough hook like Neo's previous success Where Got Ghost?, which made $1,851,721?
Being Human also opened in Malaysia three weeks ago and looks likely to duplicate its Singapore box office performance there.
Kidnapper, starring Christopher Lee and directed by Kelvin Tong, has managed only around $350,000, about half of Being Human's Singapore BO.
It's also about half of what Tong's previous film, Rule Number One, earned in 2008. My guess is both of Tong's movies didn't make back their production cost.
Even Christopher Lee's previous movie, The Wedding Game with wife Fann Wong, did better, earning over $1 million last year.
(And if you're wondering, Glen Goei's The Blue Mansion made about $150,000 last year. He should feel blue.)
Being Human and Kidnapper clearly had a hard time competing with Hollywood blockbusters like Alice In Wonderland, How To Train Your Dragon and Clash Of The Titans which were released in the same period. These three hits took in at least $3 million each in Singapore.
Not very encouraging for local films.
My hope for the PCK movie is that it makes at least $1 million in Singapore and another million in Malaysia. If it doesn't, I'd consider it a failure.
