More misses than hits for '2 Alam'

IN the 1980s, the rallying cry "Malaysia Boleh" took the nation by storm.
It was a slogan spurring Malaysians to excel in whatever they put their minds to. And they have.

They have trekked across the South Pole, sailed solo around the world, reached the peak of Mount Everest and launched into outer space. But that's not all. Some don't just try to break any record, they want to create one at the box office.

First-time film producer Datuk Dr Che Rozmey Che Din is one of them.

He recently announced that his film, 2 Alam, about a transvestite who commits suicide, would collect RM40 million at the box office. Many were heartened, although a little sceptical, with his lofty ambition.

But then, he went overboard with his publicity campaign and became an object of ridicule.

Through daily advertorials in a newspaper, Rozmey made preposterous announcements.

Among them were claims that 30 million Malaysians have sworn to watch 2 Alam when it opens in cineplexes, that the film will be shown in all 700 screens in the country, and the most ludicrous -- that cinema operators would postpone the release of Hollywood blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 to make way for 2 Alam.

Rozmey's promotional team marketed the film using the "Ddr way" -- by marketing Rozmey instead of the film or its actors.

The film's posters feature not the stars, Aaron Aziz and Suhaillah Salam, but Rozmey. He also went on a solo promotional tour signing autographs and taking photos with fans. And he continued to make absurd claims in his advertorials and on his Facebook page.

When the media criticised the film as "trash and a waste of time and money", he announced that there was a conspiracy by entertainment reporters to see him fail. He refused to hold a press preview and arrogantly said that he did not need the media to succeed.

On the days leading up to the opening of 2 Alam on Nov 18, one after another of his claims crumbled. Cinemas in Singapore did not show the film on Nov 18. The film also failed to open in Brunei that day.

A week after he announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1's release would be delayed by a week, GSC Cinemas announced that the film would open on Nov 17, a day earlier than 2 Alam.

On opening day, the first two slots for the movie played to almost empty halls across the country prompting some cinema operators to move it to smaller halls for the evening slots. Even then, the movie played to half full seats. The film was shown on fewer than 60 screens.

But Rozmey confidently announced on his Facebook page that the film was on target to hit RM40 million and that all Malaysians had admitted that he was their film champion.

He even claimed that in Kedah (his hometown), tickets for the evening and midnight shows on Nov 18 were sold out, when in reality, cinemas in Kedah do not have evening shows on Thursdays (the last show is at 5pm) as regulated by the state government.

On Friday, in a desperate attempt to get moviegoers to cinemas, he claimed the film's collection on the first day was RM2 million, surpassing even the first day collection of Avatar, the highest grossing film in Malaysia so far. In truth, 2 Alam made a measly RM80,000 on opening day.

For any film to hit RM40 million, it has to make a minimum collection of RM10 million on opening day and RM25 million in its first week. This is based on the fact that every week, a movie's collection drops by 50 per cent. Even Hollywood's biggest movie can't achieve that figure.

2 Alam's first day collection was less than RM100,000 and based on past performances of local films that opened to a similar figure, 2 Alam's first week collection will be less than RM1 million.

Only one of two things can help Rozmey achieve his dream of turning 2 Alam into a RM40 million blockbuster -- a miracle. Or he could buy the RM40 million worth of tickets himself.

Sure enough, 2 Alam has become a film people will remember.