6 Feb – Fans of action movies, get ready to invade the cinemas soon as an action-packed movie called "Jailbreak" may just be making its way to our shores. "Jailbreak" is currently the biggest action movie in Cambodia, where it has sparked a phenomenon with highly positive receptions from local moviegoers. The Khmer action movie also recorded one of the highest opening day collections for local titles in Cambodia.
What makes the movie even more interesting is the fact that it is made in a collaboration between Cambodia and Malaysia via the latter's Imaginex Studios Sdn Bhd, which did the post-production on the sound, and Basecamp Films, which handled the colour grading and more. Recently, a private screening was held at GSC Mid Valley for the industry players here and Cinema Online was among the few lucky ones who had the chance to watch the movie.
Cambodia based Westec Media Limited (WML) Chief Executive Officer, Michael Chai, hopes that the movie will get the green light to screen in Malaysia since it is a collaboration project between two countries. "I want to thank Malaysia's Imaginex Studios who has given its best to "Jailbreak"," said Chai. The private screening was also attended by Chai's friends and family, as well as former FINAS Director General Dato' Kamil Othman. Dato' Kamil later praised the cooperation between the "Jailbreak" production team, Kongchak Pictures, and Imaginex Studios. "This effort is one of the things that I was emphasising on when I was still the Director General of FINAS because I want local filmmakers to start opening their eyes and dare to explore new markets on the international stage." "If there is insufficient model to produce a movie, find an investor or collaborate with overseas productions. By doing so, the movies that we produce can be marketed outside of the country, in a way introducing the local movie industry to the international market," said Dato' Kamil. Dato' Kamil, who is now the Vice President of Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet), is currently planning a strategy to help local filmmakers to find investors or do collaborations with productions outside of the country. "Jailbreak" follows four police officers who are escorting a criminal called Playboy to a high security prison. The leader of the gang he is involved in then hires one of the prisoners to assassinate him. A riot breaks out, causing the police officers to be trapped inside the prison. They will have to fight back, not only to protect themselves but also Playboy. Directed by Cambodian-based Italian director Jimmy Henderson ("Hanuman"), "Jailbreak" stars French-Cambodian stuntman-turned-actor Jean Paul-Ly ("Marvel's Doctor Strange"), Bokator fighter Dara Our, MMA fighter Tharoth Sam, French-Vietnamese actress Celine Tran, Cambodian actor Savin Phillip and Cambodian Prince Sisowath Siriwudd.