Malaysia’s first gay film makes profit in 5 days

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Apr 7, 2011

Malaysia’s first gay-themed romance film has become a swift box-office success, attracting curious cinema audiences who rarely get to see movies centered on sexuality because of strict censorship in this Muslim-majority nation.

The Malay-language movie, called “Dalam Botol” or “In a Bottle,” grossed slightly more than $330,000 in its first five days, recouping its production and marketing costs of $320,000, said Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman, who wrote and produced the film.

Part of the movie’s financial success is likely due to intense advance publicity, including earlier speculation that the government-run film censorship board might ban it.

The box-office results “prove that Malaysian audiences can handle such movies, that they’re more open and not so conservative anymore,” Raja Azmi told The Associated Press. “I hope it’ll inspire more films that are meaningful and linked to the reality of people’s lives.”

— from AP reports