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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Indonesia Open For Co-pros, Box Office Booming; But Lack Of Screens Hampering Further Growth
Indonesian cinema is booming, with local films breaking admissions records last year and on course for even further growth in 2025, but the lack of screens in the country has created a distribution bottleneck, said speakers on a Cannes Marche panel. Linda Gozali, who heads the recently launched JAFF Market, and Angga Dwimas Sasongko, founder and CEO of Jakarta-based Visinema Group, outlined current trends in the Indonesian theatrical market, one of the few in the world that is currently growing. More from Deadline 'The Secret Agent' Director On Brazil's Cinema Boom & What Needs To Be Fixed: "We Have To Clean Up Our Act" Yôsuke Kubozuka To Star In 'Gomusin' From Average Plus: Film Is First Project From Former Fremantle Exec Nastasja Borgeot's New Indie Dakota Johnson Plans To Direct First Feature From Script By 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' Actress Vanessa Burghardt - Cannes In addition, Denis Vaslin, CEO of Rotterdam-based Volya Films, and Hubert Bals Fund head Tamara Tatishvili, talked about the potential for co-production with the fast-growing market. Gozali explained that Indonesia currently has 468 cinemas with 2,293 screens for a population of around 280 million. That works out to an audience of 117,750 people per screen, compared to around 15,000 people per screen in China and South Korea and 9,000 in the U.S, making Indonesia significantly under-screened. 'I think one advantage of the Indonesian market is that the price point of tickets (around $2.50) makes cinema one of the cheapest form of entertainment. So from an investment point of view, we can see there's a lot of room to grow,' said Angga, whose recent release, animated feature Jumbo, was released over the Eid holidays and is currently close to 10 million admissions. In comparison, Disney's Frozen 2 is the biggest foreign animation of all time released in Indonesia with 4.2 million admissions. 'Our GDP is still slightly below $5,000 and when we pass that we can expect buying power and ticket prices to increase, and gross box office will significantly grow,' Angga added. 'If Jumbo had the same number of admissions in North America, it would have grossed $200M. We're not there yet but we can see the potential for growth.' While the market has been flooded with horror, Angga explained how Visinema took a gamble on making Jumbo, a family film: 'I told cinemas that if they book Jumbo, families will come, because in recent years they didn't have a chance to come to the cinema. And we proved to be right because during the Eid holidays the market as a whole reached 14 million admissions.' However, the lack of screens is creating a bottleneck for both local and foreign movies. Indonesian producers usually deal directly with the country's three major exhibitors when releasing a movie, as the country does not have many independent distributors, but all three cinema chains also have their own distribution companies and slates of movies. Last year, the market had a backlog of hundreds of unreleased films. 'If you tie up with one Indonesia's major studios, you have a better chance of getting distribution, but bear in mind, that 300 to 400 other movies are also competing for screens,' said Gozali. Angga added: 'The problem is there's a big mismatch between the limited number of screens and growing numbers of productions. This year, local movies have a market share of 78%, so exhibitors automatically give more slots to the Indonesian films.' The panel also talked about the potential for co-production with Indonesia. While many arthouse and festival-friendly films have been set up as co-productions with Indonesia, Angga said there's also potential for collaboration on commercial movies, especially animation: 'We need international partners because firstly, making animation is not cheap, it's twice the budget of an action movie, so we need strategic partners to bring the IP overseas, and also get more insights into how to improve the quality of our product.' Vaslin talked about his experiences co-producing Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya's This City Is A Battlefield, a historical drama set during the Dutch colonial period, which was the closing film of this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film, which pieced together its financing during the pandemic, also had co-producers from Singapore, Philippines, Norway and Cambodia. 'We asked them what do you need from us because you're already in a complex situation on many levels, but they needed three Dutch actors. We also did some VFX and raised the Hubert Bals funding,' Vaslin explained. Periscoop Film, founded by San Fu Maltha and Submarine, released the film in the Netherlands around the same time it was released in Indonesia. Vaslin joked that the Netherlands should be now colonized by Indonesia as the film took 126,000 admissions in its home market, compared to 10,000 admissions in the Netherlands, due to the vastly differing size of their respective populations. Since the film was made, Netherlands and Indonesia have signed an official co-production treaty, and a growing number of Dutch projects are planning to shoot in Indonesia. Tatishvili talked about how Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) has also supported other Indonesian productions, including Kamila Andini's upcoming Four Seasons In Java, but also suggested that Netherlands-Indonesia collaboration could go beyond the treaty and HBF to explore talent development and infrastructure. 'I'd be very interested to explore more of what's happening in Indonesia on a stakeholder level, and on a policy level, for supporting talent and creating new forms of financial support,' said Tatishvili. 'There's so much happening in Indonesia, I don't think just applying for funding is enough. We could look at launching joint programs to give Indonesia access to international producers and expertise.' JAFF Market, which hosted the panel, is holding a series of activities at Cannes. Reza Rahadian's project Pangku is screening in the 'HAF Goes to Cannes' program in the Marche. In addition, three Indonesian projects – Locust from indie publisher Kosmik, Bryan Valeza's Bandits Of Batavia and re:ON Comics' JITU (Joint Intelligence And Tactical Unit) – were featured in Spotlight Asia's IP Adaptation showcase. JAFF Market also held a series of networking events. The second edition of JAFF Market is taking place November 29 to December 1 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, alongside Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF), which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Best of Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Sex-Trafficking Trial Updates: Cassie Ventura's Testimony, $10M Hotel Settlement, Drugs, Violence, & The Feds 'Nine Perfect Strangers' Season 2 Release Schedule: When Do New Episodes Come Out? Everything We Know About Ari Aster's 'Eddington' So Far
South China Morning Post
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Amid ‘Jumbo' success, can Indonesia become an animation powerhouse?
Indonesian cartoon feature Jumbo has become the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animation release in history, sparking hope by the film's producer that the country could become a regional powerhouse in the genre. Advertisement The film follows Don, a boy often underestimated by his friends due to his large stature, as he tries to participate in a talent show with a stage play inspired by his late parents' book of fairy tales. When a bully steals the book, Don's attempt to retrieve it takes an exciting turn when he encounters Meri, a girl from another world seeking help to find her missing parents. As of Sunday, Jumbo, which premiered on March 31, has amassed more than 3.2 million admissions, beating the previous record held by Si Juki the Movie: Panitia Hari Akhir as the most well-attended Indonesian animated film in the past eight years with 642,312 admissions. 'Jumbo has become Southeast Asia's biggest animation in terms of revenue, our gross [at the Indonesian] box office is already US$10 million per [April 14],' Angga Dwimas Sasongko, founder and group CEO of Visinema Group, the studio behind Jumbo, told This Week in Asia. The record for the highest-grossing animated feature in the region was previously held by Mechamato Movie, a 2022 Malaysian superhero film with a total gross of around US$7.68 million, according to the entertainment website Deadline.
Express Tribune
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Indonesian animated film Jumbo breaks box office records and gears up for international release
The Indonesian animated film Jumbo has achieved a major milestone, becoming the highest-grossing Indonesian animated film of all time. The film reached 1 million admissions within just seven days of its March 31 theatrical premiere, surpassing the previous record set by Si Juki The Movie: Panitia Hari Akhir (2017), which had held the title for eight years with 642,312 admissions. Jumbo, produced by Visinema Studios, tells the story of Don, a young boy who faces underestimation by his peers. He sets out to perform in a talent show with a stage play inspired by a fairytale book left by his late parents. His plans take an unexpected turn when a bully steals the book, leading Don to meet a mysterious child seeking help to reunite with her parents. Producer Anggia Kharisma expressed pride in the film's success, stating, 'These numbers aren't just about ticket sales. They represent love, hope, and trust from the people for our own local stories.' She noted that the film's overwhelming reception from Indonesian audiences made the challenges of the past five years worthwhile. The film's performance is particularly impressive in Indonesia's competitive theatrical market, where horror films dominate over 50% of releases. Jumbo stands out for its family-friendly themes of warmth, hope, and connection. The film has also seen significant social media support, with fans, known as 'Jumbo's Free Buzzers,' creating viral content on platforms like X and TikTok, helping to maintain the film's trending status. Following its domestic success, Jumbo will be released internationally in June, with theatrical screenings planned in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, and across parts of Asia and Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Central Asia. Jumbo represents a significant achievement for Indonesia's animation industry, with more than 420 Indonesian animators and creators contributing to the project over a five-year period. The film is part of Visinema Group's growing portfolio, which also includes successful titles like Nussa, Mencuri Raden Saleh, and Keluarga Cemara.
