18 Feb – Jack Neo's latest movie, the two-part "Long Long Time Ago", was originally one of the Chinese New Year releases in Malaysia before it was suddenly pulled from the local movie schedule earlier this month. During the movie's press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, the director, who was present along with some of the cast members, addressed the issue, saying, "We didn't have time to do publicities for both countries." 'Both countries' refer to Singapore and Malaysia, where the movie was planned for release during the recent holiday. "Malaysia has a lot of other Chinese New Year movies," said the director. "mm2 Entertainment then suggested to us to postpone the release date." "Our previous movies were also released in March anyway. So that month is like our usual release time," he continued laughingly.
The first part of the movie was released in Singapore on 4 February, with the second part planned for release sometime in March or April. Distributor mm2 Entertainment confirmed to Cinema Online that the second part will also be shown in Malaysia, though there is no release date set for the time being. When asked about their box office expectation in Malaysia, the director jokingly replied, "As long as it doesn't lose to Stephen Chow's movie ["The Mermaid"], it's good enough." "Something like the performance of "Ola Bola" would be okay," actor Mark Lee added with a grin.
"Long Long Time Ago" stars Aileen Tan, Mark Lee, Benjamin Tan, Ryan Lian, Suhaimi Yusof and more. The nostalgic comedy set in the '60s to '70s kampong follows a Singaporean family as they accompanied every step of the nation`s growth in its early years. The first part of "Long Long Time Ago" will be released in local cinemas this 31 March.