Malaysia is now facing a critical time, prompting Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to issue a Movement Control Order that starts from 18 until 31 March 2020. Following the announcement, the local film industry is among the many industries that are affected by it. Exhibitors in Malaysia have had to close their cinemas during these two weeks. Since early last month, filmmakers across the globe have started postponing the release of their movies and Malaysia is no exception, as several filmmakers have postponed their movies that were originally scheduled for open this month. In this article, Cinema Online lists down a few local titles that have been affected by COVID-19 and have to be moved to new release dates that will be announced soon.
The movie "Escape" was among the first to announce its postponement. The Ikhwansha Hazer-helmed movie was supposed to be released this 26 March, but the director and producers, Dreamland Productions Sdn Bhd and DMY Creation, took extra precautions by delaying the movie's release to a yet-to-be-announced new date. The action-packed movie revolves around a man named Adam. He is forced to expose the location of a weapon chip that he smuggled to the authorities when he is accused as a terrorist and locked up in a mysterious room. He belatedly realises he has given the information to a dangerous terrorist group instead. What will happen to Adam? To find out, don't miss out watching "Escape", which stars Kamal Adli, Elizabeth Tan, Amar Asyraf, Zamarul Hisham and many more when it opens in cinemas in the near future.
Similarly, horror movie "Roh" postponed its release before the Movement Control Order from 18 to 31 March was issued by the government. The news was announced by its production company Kuman Pictures and director Emir Ezwan, who said that the new date will be announced soon. The feature directorial debut by Emir follows a poor family living at the edge of the forest, where they are visited by a mysterious little girl. Ever since then, strange things begin happening to them. The movie stars Farah Ahmad, Namron, June Lojong, Mhia Farhana, Harith Haziq and Putri Syahadah.
Originally planned for release in early 2020, "Town Mall" is forced to move to a later date when all the cinemas nationwide have to be closed until the end of this month. The Aifa Motion Pictures movie is directed by Dato' Sri Eizlan Yusof, who also stars in the movie that's based on a popular horror novel. It tells of a shopping mall called Town Mall, which was left abandoned during construction due to the strange disturbances that kept happening. After a decade, now a property developer is planning to resume its construction with hopes of turning it into a popular shopping mall. But the same strange things from 10 years ago start happening again. Aside from Eizlan, the movie also stars Reen Rahim, Intan Ladyana, Nynaa Harizal and Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan.
Most of the movies postponed this month are of the horror genre. Another movie that had to be postponed is horror comedy "Takut Ke Tak", directed by Muzzamer Rahman. No long statement was released, instead only a brief statement saying that it had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and a new date will be announced soon. The movie follows a group of college students that must make a film as their graduation project. For that, they plan to do the filming in a haunted house. But their project is interrupted when weird things begin to haunt them. Things turn worse when they find a strange cupboard. The cast is made up of newcomers like Nabil Aqil, Fabian Loo, Ika Nabella, Arwind Kumar and Han Zalini.
Last but not least is a romantic comedy called "Kenderaan Berat Ikut Kiri", which has also been postponed due to the current situation. In this list, only this Jefry Talib-directed movie falls under the romance genre, which has started to be forgotten due to the lack of interest from moviegoers lately. The movie tells of Adam who meets a girl named Lisa by chance and falls in love with her. However, their relationship is tested when Adam finds out that Lisa's father, Uncle Don, is the head of a human trafficking syndicate. The cast includes Syafie Naswip, Farhanna Qismina, Ropie, Sathiya and many more. So far, the movies listed in this article are the only ones postponed. There might be several more that will be postponed, so stay tuned to Cinema Online for the latest updates on your favourite movies!