S'pore Box-Office 2022: Doctor Strange 2 Beats Avatar 2; Jack Neo Rules With Ah Girls Go Army

Jack Neo is untouchable.

Despite the torrential brickbats, Neo’s Ah Girls Go Army still came in at No.1 at the local box-office in 2022.

Ah Girls Go Army, which follows the exploits of a group of female conscripts, earned S$2.26 million, making it the year’s top Asian earner. Its sequel, Ah Girls Go Army Again, didn’t do bad badly as well: it came in third with S$940,000. (But they both underperformed compared to the Ah Boys to Men instalments; 2017’s Ah Boys to Men 4 grossed S$5.05 million.) Neo’s auditors will be busy with The King of Musang King, which arrives on Jan 21, the first day of the Chinese New Year.

The festive screwball comedy Reunion Dinner and the Golden Horse-nominated road-trip drama Ajoomma are the other homegrown titles in the Top 10 Asian movies.

Overall, Hollywood fare dominated the local box-office, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at No.1 with S$9.94 million, followed by Top Gun: Maverick’s S$8.51 million and Avatar: The Way of Water’s S$8.1 million. But Marvel's Master of the Mystic Arts' victory is short-lived: James Cameron's sci-fi epic caught up with him in the first week of the new year: As of Jan 8, it has made almost S$10 million.) 

Elsewhere, the Brad Pitt-headlined Bullet Train is the highest-grossing M18 picture with S$1.2 million, while Smile is the best-selling horror with S$585,000.  

While Disney ruled its live-action line-up, its animated features — Pixar’s Toy Story spin-off Lightyear and the Jake Gyllenhaal-led comedy-adventure Strange World — while well-reviewed, failed to find its audience. Blame the NC16 rating slapped on them (for featuring LGBTG content) shutting out their key audience: the family crowd.

“As we recover from the pandemic, 2022 was regarded to be the year films return,” one industry insider told 8 DAYS. “Sadly, no one informed the audiences.” Especially those that aren’t sequels, comic book adaptations and remakes, i.e. original IPs — they all, whatchamacallit —underperformed. Look at Ambulance (okay, it’s a remake but a remake of an obscure 2005 Danish movie): it’s one of Michael Bay’s best films in years but not many people knew it even existed.

“[The Jordan Peele sci-fi thriller] Nope should have done better too,” our anonymous expert added. “Marry Me [with Jennifer Lopez] signals a bigger issue with the rom-com genre, where all similar efforts have bombed.”

Elsewhere, he thought Nicolas Cage’s meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent “could have benefitted better from a traditional studio release — a marketing campaign with a studio’s clout and budget.”

He continued, “No one knew what the movie is to make a purchase decision.”

Globally, Avatar: The Way of Water (US$1.7 bil) is No.1, followed by Top Gun: Maverick (US$1.48 bil), Jurassic World: Dominion (US$1 bil), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (US$955.7 mil), Minions: The Rise of Gru (US$939.6 mil), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (US$827.2 mil), The Batman (US$770.9 mil), Thor: Love and Thunder (US$760.9 mil), Water Gate Bridge, aka The Battle At Lake Changjin II  (US$626.5 mil) and Moon Man (US$460.2 mil).

Top 10 Hollywood Movies in Singapore (as of Dec 31, 2022)

1/ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – S$9.94 mil

2/ Top Gun: Maverick – S$8.51 mil

3/ Avatar: The Way of Water - S$8.089 mil

4/ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – S$8.079 mil

5/ Thor: Love and Thunder – S$7.95 mill

6/ Jurassic World Dominion – S$7.17 mil

7/ Minions 2: The Rise of Gru – S$5.044 mil

8/ The Batman – S$4.91 mil

9/ Black Adam – S$4.4 mil

10/ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – S$3.28 mil

Top 10 Asian Movies in Singapore (as of Dec 31, 2022)

1/ Ah Girls Go Army – S$2.26 mil

2/ Jujutsu Kaisen 0 – S$1.59 mil

3/ Ah Girls Go Army Again – S$940,000

4/ Reunion Dinner – S$906,000

5/ Emergency Declaration – S$765,000

6/ Ajoomma – S$718,000

7/ New Kung Fu Cult Master 1 – S$605,000

8/ Confidential Assignment 2: International – S$460,000

9/ Detective vs Sleuths – S$362,000

10/ My Best Friend’s Breakfast – S$346,000

Here’s the complete list of the Top 100 movies in Singapore

1             Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

2             Top Gun: Maverick

3             Avatar: The Way of Water

4             Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

5             Thor: Love & Thunder

6             Jurassic World Dominion

7             Minions 2: The Rise of Gru

8             The Batman

9             Black Adam

10           Fantastic Beast: The Secrets Of Dumbledore

11           Ah Girls Go Army  

12           Uncharted

13           Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

14           Jujutsu Kaisen: 0

15           Sonic The Hedgehog 2

16           Bullet Train

17           Morbius

18           Everything Everywhere All At Once

19           DC League of Super-Pets

21           Reunion Dinner

22           Death On The Nile

23           Emergency Declaration

24           The Bad Guys

25           The Lost City

26           Ajoomma  

27           New Kung Fu Cult Master 1

28           Smile (above)

29           Avatar (Re-release)

30           Ticket To Paradise

31           Confidential Assignment 2: International

32           Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile

33           Elvis

34           Moonfall

35           Detective VS Sleuths

36           Nope 

37           My Best Friend’s Breakfast

38           The Menu

39           Lightyear

40           Air Force The Movie: Selagi Bernyawa

41           Ambulance  

42           Scream

43           Decibel

44           The Roundup

45           Tablis Iblis

46           Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank

47           Deleted

48           Love Destiny : The Movie

49           Broker

50           Don’t Forget I Love You

51           The Black Phone

52           Jerangkung Dalam Almari

53           Blacklight

54           Moon Man

55           Man On The Edge

56           Decision To Leave (above)

57           New Kung Fu Cult Master 2

58           Don’t Worry Darling

59           The Battle At Lake Changjin II (aka Water Gate Bridge)

60           Chickenhare and The Hamster of Darkness

61           West Side Story

62           Laal Singh Chaddha

63           Nasi Lemak 1.0

64           Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

65           King Richard

66           Hunt (above)

67           Memory

68           Orphan: First Kill

69           Halloween Ends

70           Come Back Home

71           Hansan: Rising Dragon

72           Almost Love

73           Prey For The Devil

74           See How They Run

75           Downton Abbey: A New Era

76           The Invitation

77           Marry Me

78           Haunted Universities

79           The 355 (above)

80           Three Thousand Years Of Longing

81           Only Fools Rush In

82           Fireheart

83           Amsterdam

84           Wolf Pack (above)

85           Menjelang Magrib

86           Peenak 3

87           Violent Night

88           The Witch: Part 2. The Other One

89           Beast

90           I Am What I Am

91           Tad The Explorer: The Mummy Adventure

92           The Contractor

93           Spencer

94           Confession

95           Fall (above)

96           The Antique Shop  

97           The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent

98           Dog

99           Everything Everywhere All At Once (Extended cut)

100         Alive Drift

Sources: Cinematograph Film Exhibitors Association (data as of Dec 31, 2022); boxofficemojo.com; Disney, 20th Century Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Shaw Organisation, Golden Village, Warner Bros Discovery, mm2 Entertainment, UIP, 

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