ARTICLE
It's Confirmed: Ah Boys To Men 4 is Happening... and Maybe a Fifth Instalment!
By Flora / 02 Dec 2015 (Wednesday)
After the successful runs of the NS-themed movie series, Ah Boys to Men, Singapore’s famed director, Jack Neo is back with a fourth instalment in 2017.
At the media announcement held earlier this afternoon, Neo, the director of the Ah Boys To Men series announced that a fourth instalment is under works, and will release it in cinemas in 2017.
“2017 is the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s National Service and we want to release the film then. Sometime ago, we mentioned having Ah Boys 4 and Ah Boys 5, but because of the scale of the production, we dare not confirm having both films releasing together. Ah Boys To Men 4 is definitely a confirmed lineup we are working on.”
For the cast members, Neo hopes to recruit new faces to act in his movie(s). An open casting call will take place next year, with more information to be released on a later date.
He said: “Singapore is a new and small market and we do not have that many good talents. If Ah Boys To Men series can actually help to discover new talents, I feel it’s a good thing for the industry. To give a fresh perspective, on top of an open audition for new actors, we will also approach Taiwanese actor Darren Wang Da Lu 王⼤大陆 (‘Our Times’ <我的少⼥女時代>) since Taiwan has military service too. It will be an interesting angle. If Darren Wang Da Lu is not available, we will explore other Taiwanese actors.”
As to which vocation he is embarking on next, Neo wasn’t able to confirm at this point, stating that they are still in talks with Ministry of Defence, but assured that it remains in the military sector.
Neo also gave an update on his upcoming film, ‘Long Long Time Ago’, which is slated to release in early 2016.
“As this is a period film, we had to recreate a lot of set pieces and props, and that costs us a lot of money and time,” said Neo. “This film is also one of the most challenging film I’ve done. The ‘flooding scene’ was very tough to shoot.”
Long Long Time Ago tells a story about a family going through a shift from the days in a kampong to a HDB flat during the 1960s of Singapore. Mainly shot in Ipoh, the film stars Aileen Tan, Mark Lee and Wang Lei.