Indonesian Films Break All-Time Annual Admissions Record, With Horror Pics ‘Agak Laen’, ‘Vina’, ‘Kang Mak’ Heading Sales

Indonesian movies have sailed past the all-time annual admissions record in just nine months from January to September 2024, with new releases pulling in 61.25 million ticket sales, according to data from local box office analyst Bicara Box Office. 

The previous record was set in 2022 when local productions racked up 58.16 million admissions by the end of the year. Calendar year total admissions, including films released in 2023, had reached 95.56 million by the end of September. Local productions currently have around a 66% market share. 

Imajinari’s horror comedy Agak Laen remains the biggest film of the year, drawing 9.1 million admissions, followed by horror thriller Vina: Sebelum 7 Hari with 5.8 million admissions and Falcon Pictures’ Kang Mak, a remake of Thai horror comedy blockbuster Pee Mak, with 4.8 million. 

The next three films in the 2024 top ten are also local productions – infidelity drama Ipar Adalah Maut (4.7 million) and horror prequel Dancing Village: The Curse Begins (4 million), which are both produced by MD Pictures, and Joko Anwar’s horror Grave Torture, produced by Rapi Films and Legacy Pictures.

Thai blockbuster How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is the biggest foreign film of the year, ranking at number seven with around 3.5 million admissions, according to Bicara Box Office data, followed by two Hollywood titles – Warner Bros’ Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire and Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Korean horror Exhuma rounds out the top ten. 

MD Pictures’ horror film KKN Di Desa Penari remains the highest-grossing Indonesian film of all time after it pulled in more than 10 million admissions in 2022. Dancing Village: The Curse Begins, which was filmed with Imax cameras and released in North America, is a prequel to that title. 

Despite the growth of streaming, Indonesian audiences have been flooding back to cinemas since the pandemic, drawn by high-quality theatres and ticket prices of around $3, which is low compared to most other markets in the region. Vietnam has been another theatrical hotspot in Asia in recent years, with local films also driving admissions.