"Life Of Pi" livens box office

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"Life Of Pi" livens box office

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Writer: Elaine Ewe

Suraj Sharma plays the lead, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel in Ang Lee's "Life Of Pi".

6 Dec – The "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2" craze was finally reined in last weekend (29 November – 2 December) when Ang Lee's positively received "Life Of Pi" made its debut in cinemas in Malaysia. The film is based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name, about an Indian boy named Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, who finds himself orphaned stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of an ocean with an injured zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker when a storm sinks a Japanese freighter that he and his family were on. Starring Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Gérard Depardieu, Tabu, and Adil Hussain, the adventure drama film was so well-received by Malaysians that Coliseum KL has decided to screen Hindi-dubbed versions of the film as well.

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2" was a close second, followed by the newly released "Wreck-It Ralph". The film is a Disney 3D computer-animated family-comedy film directed by Rich Moore, and tells the story of the titular arcade game villain who decides to rebel against his role as he dreams of becoming a hero. This leads Ralph to travels between games in the arcade, but he ultimately must eliminate a dire threat that could affect the entire arcade, and one that Ralph may have inadvertently started.

"Rise Of The Guardians" may not have been released with much fanfare, but the film is suitable for kids who are currently on holidays.

In Singapore, "Life Of Pi" also made quite a splash, followed by "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2". Rounding up the top three is Dreamworks Animation's "Rise Of The Guardians". Featuring the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law, the Peter Ramsey-directed feature takes place about 200 years after the book series, where the four Guardians (North or Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Bunnymund or the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman), have to convince the mischievous Jack Frost to take up his rightful place as a Guardian and stop Pitch from engulfing the world in darkness.

Despite the positive reception that "Life Of Pi" received, the film still could not dethrone the now three-time box office champion, "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2", and continued to stay in fifth place. The final instalment of Stephanie Meyer's book series was followed by "Skyfall" in second and "Rise Of The Guardians" in third place.

New movies that opened over the week in Malaysia are "Sepah The Movie", "Lagenda Budak Setan 2", "Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom", "Talaash" and "Neerparavai".

New movies that opened over the week in Singapore are "Alex Cross", "Grabbers", "Stolen", "Undefeated (2D)", "Rurouni Kenshin" and "Talaash".

Box office takings for the weekend just gone (29 November - 05 December 2012)
Malaysia 1) Life Of Pi 2) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 3) Wreck-It Ralph 4) Rise Of The Guardians 5) Lagenda Budak Setan 2 6) Pontianak Vs Orang Minyak 7) Cold War 8) Skyfall 9) Thuppakki 10) Pitch Perfect	Singapore 1) Life Of Pi 2) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 3) Rise Of The Guardians 4) Ah Boys To Men: Part 1 5) Alex Cross 6) Skyfall 7) Argo 8) Pitch Perfect 9) Cold War 10) Stolen