7 Dec – "Abang Adik" became the first Malaysian movie to have topped the Taiwanese box office list. The film, produced by Angelica Lee and directed by Jin Ong, grossed NTD 15 million (approx. RM 2.2 million) in its opening weekend, following lead actor Wu Kang-ren's success at the Golden Horse Awards. The Taiwanese actor has recently won his first ever Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for his performance as a hearing-impaired undocumented orphan in the film, which also stars Malaysian Jack Tan as his on-screen brother.
It is noted that no Malaysian film has achieved that feat in Taiwan before. Jin Ong attributed the success to the popularity of Wu himself, who has a huge fanbase in his home country. "Abang Adik gave him his first nomination and win at the Golden Horse Awards, so ecstatic fans were very supportive," he said to Malay Mail.
The movie, which also marks Angelica's debut as a producer, will be released in Malaysia on 14 December. Meanwhile, Angelica also took to social media to express her happiness over the success, writing, "Thank you to all Taiwanese viewers! Super touching! "Abang Adik" topped the box office championship in Taiwan, breaking the box office record of Singapore and Malaysian films in Taiwan, with sales reaching nearly 15 million in the first week of release!"