Jack Neo Says He Could’ve Made S$2 Million If He Bought the Rights to I Not Stupid
The filmmaker revealed he was once offered the rights to his hit movie for S$200K but turned it down — a decision that could have made him millions.
Did you know that despite being credited as the man behind the iconic 2002 local movie I Not Stupid, Singaporean director Jack Neo doesn’t own the rights to the film?
Speaking on the Rise ‘N Shine podcast with actor Noah Yap, and content creators Simonboy, and Luke Chan, the 65-year-old revealed that he was once offered $200K to purchase the film rights when the company holding them was being liquidated.
“If I had $200K back then, do you know how much I would have made?” asked Jack, who later shared that I Not Stupid went on to earn more than $6mil at the box office.
“If we deduct half of $6mil, you would still have $3mil. If you deduct [expenses] even more… If I had $200K then, I would have made more than $2mil,” he quipped.
“That’s how life works,” Jack added
However, Jack grew animated as he recounted the reactions he gets when he tells this story today.
“Whenever I tell people about this, they all say the same thing and it makes you want to hit them,” Jack laughed. “They’d go, ‘You should’ve come to me, I’d have given you the S$200K without hesitation.’”
In retrospect, Jack remains grateful to the boss of the film company. “Despite his difficult circumstances, we still managed to complete the film,” he reflected.
“Most importantly, I Not Stupid ignited the Singapore film industry.”
I Not Stupid and its sequel I Not Stupid Too made a total of almost S$8 million at the box office. A third film I Not Stupid 3 was released in 2024.
Well, you win some, you lose some, right? Jack might have missed that windfall, but looking at his other hits like Money No Enough and Ah Boys To Men, he is clearly doing fine.
Photos: Rise ‘n Shine/YouTube,
You can also catch I Not Stupid on mewatch or in the video below:
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