For 'Long Long Time Ago 3' and 'Long Long Time Ago 4' to happen, director Jack Neo says that this second of the possible four-part movie series will have to make at least S$7.5 million at the box office.
Neo is one of Singapore’s most prolific box-office title-holder with most of his films making millions. In his latest Ah Boys To Men series, Ah Boys To Men 3: Frogmen, it broke the local box office records as the 'Highest grossing opening weekend Asian movie in Singapore of all-time', raking in over S$7 million in total earnings.
Opened during the Chinese New Year period, the first 'Long Long Time Ago' fared pretty well at the box office with S$4.2 million, but is in fact S$3.3 million short of hitting the projected S$7.5 million.
“We made both movies for S$5 million, so that’s S$2.5 million per film. Everyone in the industry knows that to make a profit from movie-making, a film needs to make back at least three times the budget,” said Neo at the press conference last Thursday.
“I really want a part 3 and 4 to be made, but to do that, I have to produce ‘results’ and assure the investors that the movie is something worth investing in.”
(Watch the trailers of 'Long Long Time Ago 2'!)
As to why Neo is determined to get the films done, he shared that ending the movie series in the 1970s felt ‘incomplete’.
“At the beginning of conception, it was to film from 1965 to 2015, but we had to look into budget issues too. There are two big parts that have not been told. In the sequel, we have shown people moving into HDBs, but from 1978 till today, 2016, there are so many other things that happened and I hope to feature all these!
It is also something for our next generation to know about too… it feels complete to do something like this.”
In the first instalment, we saw a massive flood that nearly took Zhao Di and her family's lives away, and in the sequel, it is all about the big movement - from kampong houses to HDB flats. So what is Neo likely to feature in his possible 3rd and 4th films?
“We have not written out the details yet, but as of now, I feel that in each generation there will be certain kind of story and key events that we can uncover. If we look at the late 70s to the 80s, we’re nearing to the Xinyao period, and there are other milestones that are pretty fun to explore too,” shared Neo.
He added: “When it’s time for SG100 and Singaporeans are able to re-watch it, people will learn about the 50 years of Singapore's history… but I won’t be able to live till SG100!”
Long Long Time Ago 2 stars Aileen Tan, Mark Lee, Wang Lei, Suhaimi Yusof, Benjamin Tan and Bharathi Rani, and opens InCinemas 31 March 2016.