John Lui's 16 local movies to look out for this year

In the coming months, local production houses look likely to pitch up to 16 films to operators of mainstream cinemas. If all of them are taken up, it will mark a slight increase on the dozen that hit the screens last year.

Notwithstanding a slate this year that is awash in formula horror flicks and broad comedies, there will be a few works from Singapore-based film-makers going off the beaten track.

Even after shedding the esoteric dramas and documentaries from the list - works less likely to get a theatrical release - there are still a dozen films remaining. This is a healthy number and follows on from three years of steady numbers, proving that the slump of 2009, when only six local movies made it to the big screen, was an aberration.

The commercial giant this year has to be Ah Boys To Men II, the second part of the box-office record-breaking film that opened late last year. Directed and co-written by Jack Neo, the first part of the comedy about recruits in the Singapore Armed Forces earned $6.03 million, edging out the Neo- starring Money No Enough (1998), which made $6.02 million.