Local films outdraw Hollywood in Malaysia as Finas figures reveal 7.55 million admissions

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Malaysian cinema audiences are increasingly drawn to locally produced films, with domestic titles outpacing Hollywood releases so far this year, according to figures released by the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas). Local films recorded 7.55 million admissions through July, compared to 6.94 million for Hollywood releases, highlighting the strong performance of Malaysian productions at the domestic box office.

Five local films have already grossed over RM10 million, including Razaisyam Rashid’s Tarung: Unforgiven, Zulkarnain Azhar’s Polong, Bobby Husaini’s Libang Libu, Nazifdin Nasrudin’s Malaikat Malam, and Matt Lai’s Ah Beng vs Liang Po Po. These films have topped the local box-office chart for weeks, outperforming established international releases.

Finas CEO Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib noted that there has been a growing public interest in homegrown productions, with several local films surpassing the RM10 million mark this year. With more Malaysian films in the pipeline, such as Adrian Teh’s Chelot and Terbang, the trend of Malaysian audiences choosing local stories over Hollywood productions appears to be strengthening.