CNY Movies 2025: What Else To Watch In Cinemas Besides Jack Neo’s I Want To Be Boss

I Want to be Boss (Jan 24)

After two back-to-back sequels to his greatest hits, Jack Neo ventures into — brace yourself — original IP territory! Henry Thia stars as a budding restaurateur who hires a robot (Patricia Mok) to help him with business and other domestic shenanigans. Hilarity ensues… I hope, sincerely. But the trailer exudes Killer Not Stupid juju, especially that scene with Kunhua doing a PM Wong (ish?) impression. (Man, time to give that routine a rest — getting tired. Just saying.) Meanwhile, as before, prepare to play the Spot-The-Product-Placement drinking game.

Photos: mm2 Entertainment

Baby Hero (Jan 23)

The guys behind Singapore-Thailand co-production must have Godzilla-sized cojones to drop this action-comedy a day before I Want to Be Boss. OMG Vampire’s Long Lee stars as a failed musician who enlists a group of tourists to defend his hometown from thieves plotting to steal a sacred artifact. Among the cast are Wang Weiliang (also one of the producers), Hayley Woo, Ya Hui, Zoen Yay, and veteran Thai actor Vithaya Pansringarm.

Number 2 (Jan 28)

More Thai chaos! Mark Lee reprises his Golden Horse Award-nominated role as part-time drag queen Chow Chee Beng (say that name five times fast!) in this Thailand-set sequel where he and his pals (Jaspers Lai, Kiwebaby Chang, and Gadrick Chin) enter a drag contest. Amid the cross-dressing mayhem, Chow tries to spend some quality time with his disobedient son (Estovan Reizo Cheah).

Photos: mm2 Entertainment

Flight Risk (Jan 23)

This thriller from Mel Gibson, aka the newly appointed Hollywood ambassador, stars Downton Abbey alum Michelle Dockery as an Air Marshal assigned to escort a fugitive-turned-state-witness (Topher Grace). Unbeknownst to her, the pilot is a hitman in disguise (Mark Wahlberg) and like all hitmen, he’s he’s seated in the psychotic section (we haven’t seen Mark like this since… Fear?). Needless to say, it’s going to be a bumpy ride as they fly over Alaskan wilderness.

Photo: Lionsgate

Presence (Jan 23)

There are poltergeist movies and there is Steven Soderbergh’s Presence. The USP of this haunted house mystery, starring Lucy Liu, is that it’s told from the spectre’s POV.  It makes sense: they can’t see it, but it can sure see them. But is this supernatural voyeur friendly or menacing? The scares aren’t the pants-wetting kind but when the lights come back on, you can't stop thinking about it. Not unlike David Lowery’s A Ghost Story, Presence offers a different kind of scary.

Photo: Neon

Se7en (Exclusively at The Projector, Jan 23)

David Fincher’s serial killer masterpiece turns 30 this year… and it’s still a 10! If you’ve only seen this on streaming (on your smart TV or puny phone), here’s your chance to experience the seductive dread—Darius Khondji’s moody photography, Howard Shore’s brooding score, the perpetual drizzle, and that f***ing ending — on the big screen in newly-restored 4K! Yes, it will be puzzled over, studied and followed again. 

Photo: New Line/Warner Bros 

Creation of the Gods II: Demon Force (Jan 29)

Are you ready to put aside two-and-a-half hours for some man-vs-gods-monsters action? Then this is for you: the continuation of the Fengshen trilogy based on the classic 16th century Chinese novel Investiture of the Gods. Not sure what’s going on, who’s doing what to whom? Fret not; the first instalment is on Netflix.

Photo: mm2 Entertainment

Companion (Jan 29; sneaks on Jan 28)

Twisty and twisted, this M18 thriller stars Jack Quaid as a billionaire whose weekend getaway in a remote cabin with his sexbot (Heretic’s Sophie Thatcher) and friends (Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillen and Rupert Friend) goes awry. Don’t be hasty in likening this to M3GAN or [the Megan Fox-starring] Subservience. “It’s a little different to be like, ‘No, this is a robot movie, but it’s not like any other robot movie that’s out right now,” writer-director Drew Hancock tells Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not AI gone wrong, it’s AI gone right.” Come again?

Photo: Warner Bros Films 

Detective Chinatown 1900 (Jan 29)

Sometimes to move a franchise forward, you must go backwards. The fourth entry in the smash mystery series sees master sleuth Qin Feng (Liu Haoran) and his uncle Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) in another Chinatown, this time in San Francisco circa — you guessed it —  1900, where they try to exonerate a Chinese man accused of murder. The ensemble also includes Chow Yun Fat. Huat ah! 

Photos: mm2 Entertainment

Queen of Mahjong (Jan 28)

If you’re in the mood for a Mandarin-dubbed Hong Kong movie, this is for you. Wong Jing and Patrick Kong co-direct this star-studded comedy about the “joyful celebration of family, love, and the timeless charm of mahjong”. (You know what will make our day? Watching this in its original Cantonese version.) The cast include Kenneth Ma, Samantha Ko, Dada Chan, Carlos Chan, Bob Lam, Hui Shiu Hung.

Photo: Shaw Organisation