Jack Neo's Ah Girls Go Army makes $1.3m in its opening week

Director Jack Neo at a media event at Park Royal on Beach Road on Jan 28, 2022. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

SINGAPORE - Ah Girls Go Army, the latest movie in Jack Neo's popular army series, has taken in $1.3 million at the box office in its opening week.

"In Singapore, within seven days, we have broken $1 million at the box office, with a total of $1.3 million," Neo wrote in Chinese on Facebook on Friday (Feb 4).

The movie opened in Singapore and Malaysia on Feb 1, but Neo appears to have included box office takings from the movie's preview prior to its release.

On Thursday, he posted a video with the cast to thank supporters.

Despite its box-office success, the movie, starring an ensemble cast of actresses as recruits in an army set in the future where there are not enough men, has had mixed reviews.

It has also been criticised for the names of its characters.

A plus-sized recruit is named Yuan Yuan Yuan (played by Xixi Lim), meaning round in Chinese.

Even before the film premiered, there was an outcry when it was revealed that transgender actress Kelly Kimberly Cheong was playing a character named Amanda Man. The surname was later changed to Ong.

The previous instalment of the series, Ah Boys To Men 4, earned $2 million in the four days after its release in cinemas in November 2017.

Since the first Ah Boys To Men movie came out in 2012, the four movies in the franchise, all directed by Neo, have grossed more than $26.8 million in theatres.

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