19 Apr – Comic-turned-film "Kick-Ass" about powerless superheroes gathered a weak opening in the United States with an estimated US$19.8 million, letting "How To Train Your Dragon" rise to the top according to early report from Box Office Mojo. Apparently, Pixar's "The Incredibles" holds the record for superhero comedies and is the only truly successful one, however among live-action films, "Kick-Ass" boasted the biggest debut.
As observed in Cinema Online's "Hot Movie Checks", local comedy "Ice Kacang Puppy Love" directed by Taiwan-based Malaysian singer Ah Niu tops the list, followed by "Clash Of The Titans", "Kick-Ass", "Being Human" and "When In Rome". According to GSC Mid Valley, cinema manager Mr. Lee Kong Yew, Ah Niu's directorial debut was very good over the weekend with even a few show times sold out on opening day, however ticket sales for "Clash Of The Titans" still remains strong. Singapore will get a taste of the bittersweet 'ice kacang' come 22 April 2010 in cinemas.
Distributor Encore Films reported that Taiwan triad film "Monga" starring Ethan Juan and Mark Chao gathered an encouraging response on opening weekend in Singapore with S$250k. "Monga", which opened in its native Taiwan back in February 2010, broke opening day and opening weekend records, grossing more than NT$200 million (SG$8.8 million) during its first two weeks of release, outshining even "Avatar" in first-day receipts. Recently, United International Pictures Malaysia picked up the film and is scheduled to release on 10 June 2010.
Meanwhile, M-18 rated Spanish horror sequel "[REC] 2" earned S$218K in its second weekend at the Singapore box office as of 18 April 2010 with 16 prints. According to distributor Golden Village Pictures, although the sequel did not break "[REC]"'s opening record, it will definitely surpass its final gross of S$244K.
In conjunction with the upcoming "A Nightmare on Elm Street" release on 13 May, horror icon Freddy Krueger got up close and personal with cinemagoers yesterday at GSC Mid Valley. Moviegoers can also look forward to catching him at GSC 1 Utama, 5pm to 8pm on 24 April and at GSC Pavilion KL, 2pm to 8pm on 25 April.