Noticias

Korean production and sales powerhouse Barunson E&a is investing in and taking on international sales for upcoming Indonesian horror Sorop, produced by MD Pictures, and will launch the film in Busan’s Asian Contents & Film Market (Acfm) next week.

The film is written and directed by veteran Indonesian filmmaker Upi, known for her work on superhero action film Sri Asih, co-written and produced by Joko Anwar, as well as popular romcom franchise My Stupid Boss. It was co-written with SimpleMan, one of the leading creators on Indonesian Twitter, based on a viral horror thread.

The story revolves around siblings Hanif and Isti as they return to their hometown due to their uncle’s illness. After his death, their grief is disrupted by eerie events, including their uncle’s reappearance.

MD Pictures previously produced Indonesia’s highest-grossing film ever, Kkn Curse Of The Dancing Village, which was also based on a viral Twitter thread by SimpleMan.

In less than a decade, Netflix has become a production powerhouse in South East Asia, and that fact was reinforced at a showcase the streamer held in the Indonesian capital Jakarta last week, where it showed off its latest batch of original local films and series.

Through aggressive and consistent investment in producing originals, Netflix has gained a market leading position in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, and these three countries were the focus of the showcase on June 13. Among the slew of announcements, trailers, first-look stills and clips, Netflix unfurled news on not one, but two zombie projects, a period sex comedy, Thai sci-fi, more horror and action from Indonesia, and a serial killer thriller that could find a global audience.

Read on for details on the biggest Sea titles that Netflix showcased.

Kimo Stamboel on the set of ‘Abadi Nan Jaya’

Abadi Nan Jaya (working title) (Indonesia)

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Indonesia’s cinema admissions grew by 14.5% year-on-year to reach 114.5 million in 2023, compared to 100 million the previous year, according to local box office analyst Bicara Box Office. That figure puts the market around 24% below the pre-pandemic figure of 152 million admissions in 2019.

Despite having a slow start to the year, local productions picked up the pace from September onwards and ended 2023 with 53.3 million admissions for a 48% market share, according to Bicara Box Office data.

In 2022, Indonesian films racked up 57 million admissions and a 56.5% market share, a year of fewer Hollywood releases, which also saw the record-breaking success of MD Pictures’ Kkn Di Desa Penari, which raked in 9.23 million admissions to become Indonesia’s biggest local film of all time (the film was also re-released in an extended version at the end of 2022 and the two versions combined pulled in more than 10 million admissions).

MD Pictures also produced the top Indonesian film in...