Brilio.net/en - Indonesianfilmis entering a new eraandits expansion into new local cinemas around the country is allowing them to start competing with Hollywood titles.
Some of them are big successes, gettingmore than 1 million viewers in their firstfew weeks, while some are bigflops. The local cinema market is smaller proportionally than a country like the US, and so a budget of $2 million, which is nothing in Hollywood, is huge here.
Here are the seven of the most expensive. Rp 1 billion is just over $75,000.
1. Di Bawah Lindungan Ka'Bah - Rp 25 billion
Adapted from Buya Hamka's famous novel ofthe same title, this 1920s filmstarred Herjunot Ali and Laudya Chynthia Bellaand had plenty ofCGI effects.
Despite its budget, itonly managed to reach 520,000 viewers.
2. Pendekar Tongkat Emas - Rp 25 billion
This blockbuster had a host of star actors includingChristine Hakim, Reza Rahadian and Nicholas Saputra. The filming itself took place in a special location in East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, overthree months.
But ultimately the movie only attracted 230,000 viewers from its original target of 1.7 million.
3. Apa Artinya Cinta - Rp 30 billion
In an effort to repeat the success of Eifel I'm in Love, Samuel Rizal and Shandy Aulia teamedup to star this teen movie. The film is setin San Franciscoandbecame the highest grossing movie of2005 with 1.5 million viewers.
4. Ketika Cinta Bertasbih - Rp 40 billion
Adapted from the novel written by Habiburahman El Shirazy, this movie takesplace in Egypt. The budget skyrocketed as it took on more and more stars, but luckily it did well enough to warrant a sequel.
5. The Raid 2 - Rp 54 billion
After the commercial success of The Raid, Gareth Evans returned with a sequel featuring fancy effects and stars. The budget swelled to around Rp 54 billion as the filming schedule stretched from 90 days to 132 days.The Raidseries is easily the best known Indonesian film product outside the country.
6. Gunung Emas Almayer - Rp 60 billion
This movie might be less popular compared to other Indonesian movies released in 2014. The budget grewdue to the hiring of an ensemble cast from three countries: Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. As it was an adventure story, the production costs also boomed.
7. Merdeka Trilogy - Rp 64 billion
No list of Indonesian films is complete without this trilogy yes, technically not a single film but easily Indonesia's biggest blockbuster franchise. A historical drama telling the story of Indonesia's independence struggle. The trilogy consists of Merdeka, Darah Garuda and Hati Merdek. Themovie brought togethera top flight team of special effects and technical experts as well as a host of veteran actors.
Although it didn't perform as well at the box office as people hoped, it is still a landmark for Indonesian film.
(brl/red)
