SINGAPORE - Ah Boys To Men: Frogmen powered into the lead in this year's Chinese New Year box office contest with $2.83 million, the brawniest opening weekend total for an Asian film in Singapore, said Golden Village Pictures today.
The previous record holder was the Stephen Chow comedy Kung Fu Hustle, which took in $1.9 million in its first weekend in 2004.
Frogmen's opening is also the biggest of the Jack Neo national service comedy franchise. Both the first and second movies, Ah Boys To Men in 2012 and Ah Boys To Men 2 in 2013, had opening weekend ticket sales of more than $1.5 million. The first film went on to take in a total of $6.2 million and the second, $7.8 million.
A press release from Golden Village quoted Neo as saying: "With everyone's support, we defended our turf and this is a victory for the local movie industry."
Another strong Asian release during the festive weekend was the Jackie Chan adventure Dragon Blade, with $1.48 million.
It is the sixth-biggest opening for an Asian movie here, according to Golden Village, after Frogmen, Kung Fu Hustle, Ip Man 2 ($1.73 million in 2010), Ah Boys To Men 2 and Ah Boys To Men.
