KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― Malaysia is set to be the shooting location for two major movies in the next couple of years. One on martial arts legend Bruce Lee and another on Sarawak’s first Rajah, showcasing the country’s allure once again to the entertainment industry.

What draws filmmakers to Malaysia? Could it be the nostalgia-inducing and well-preserved colonial buildings, that edgy and modern feel in its capital city, the local government’s warm welcome to foreign film companies and actors, the enthusiastic Malaysian fans or a combination of all the above?

Whatever the reasons may be, these are nine times when foreign movie makers made the choice to film in Malaysia.

1. Police Story 3: Super Cop (1992)

The Hong Kong thriller, which included Malaysian actress Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, was reportedly cited to support the award of a Datukship to action movie legend Jackie Chan over two decades later.

A minister had in 2015 said Chan has many fans in Malaysia and deserved the title as he can promote Malaysia, especially Kuala Lumpur, where the movie was partly shot.

Chan had, in an iconic stunt in the film, hanged on to a rope ladder attached to a helicopter that flew around Kuala Lumpur, while the city's historic Sultan Abdul Samad building was also featured.

2. Indochine (1992)

This French Oscar-winning film had scenes shot in Malaysia, including at several locations in Penang such as the 19th-century Cheong Fatt Tze mansion otherwise known as The Blue Mansion.

The film, which was also shot in Vietnam, starred Catherine Deneuve and depicts a story set in Vietnam in the 1930s to 1950s during French colonial rule.

3. Anna and The King (1999)

The third Hollywood feature film on the story of Siam's King Mongkut and his children's tutor Anna Leonowens, this time featuring Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat, was shot in Malaysia after Thailand barred filming there.

The film reportedly involved the recreation of a seven-acre palace at the 350-acre Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort near Perak's Ipoh and featured 896 locals as extras in a scene. It is also said to have been filmed in Langkawi and several locations in Penang.

According to CinemaOnline, you can even spot local actors Keith Chin, Mano Maniam, Deanna Yusoff, Harith Iskander, Afdlin Shauki, Ramli Hassan and Kee Thuan Chye in the film.

4. Entrapment (1999)

This Hollywood thriller starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones had its climax set at Kuala Lumpur's iconic Petronas Twin Towers.

Then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reportedly upset at how the film allegedly presented a "distorted view" as it transposed the towers with Melaka’s “slums”, claiming it would led audiences to believe that Malaysia is a developing country that wastes public funds on "useless grandiose monuments".

Locals will also spot another such swap, with the Bukit Jalil LRT train station passed off as Pudu in the movie.

5. Don (2006)

This Bollywood hit featuring Shah Rukh Khan — who was bestowed a Datukship about two years later by the Melaka governor following filming of his 2001 film One 2 Ka 4 in a resort in the state ― was set and mostly shot in Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir, who years later defended Khan's Datukship by saying the later promoted local attractions by including them in his movies and contributed to the economy, visited the actor at a Langkawi movie set.

The movie was reportedly shot at multiple Klang Valley locations such as the Petronas Twin Towers, Kampung Baru, Penchala Link, with over 1,000 local talents sought as extras for a particular shot in Jalan Masjid India then.

Its director Farhan Akhtar said the shooting here was fun and even described Malaysia as “almost like a character” in his film.

6. Lust, Caution (2007)

Award-winning director Ang Lee's espionage thriller, which is set in Hong Kong and Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s, was partly filmed in Ipoh and Penang as stand-in for those period settings.

The one-day shoot in Penang involving almost 300 production crew members reportedly saw Wisma Yeap Chor Ee transformed into a shopping outlet sporting the name "Macy Company Limited, 1926" and with an entire road ― China Street Ghaut — closed off.

7. Don 2 (2011)

Shah Rukh Khan returned to Malaysia to shoot this sequel to the commercially successful Don, reportedly selecting locations in Malacca, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi for the movie.

One entire section of the Melaka prison was reportedly temporarily cleared of around 700 inmates to allow for filming amid strict security measures — including the barring of cellphones and laptops within the prison.

8. The Viral Factor (2012)

Taiwan's Jay Chou and Hong Kong's Nicholas Tse starred in this thriller that reportedly had 80 per cent of its scenes shot in Malaysia, including Kuala Lumpur's Pavilion shopping mall.

KL Sentral, the old Kuala Lumpur railway station and the city's International Medical University (IMU) were also reportedly used for scenes in the film.

9. Kabali (2016)

This Kollywood box office hit featuring Indian superstar Rajinikanth — whose local fans had in 2015 called for a Datukship award on him and which a local minister had indicated could be a tourism ambassador candidate — was mostly set in Malaysia.

He was spotted while in Kuala Lumpur for filming and Tourism Malaysia had even launched a special tour for India's tourists of the shooting locations — Batu Caves, Petronas Twin Towers, KLCC, Palace of Golden Horses' Grand Salon Lobby Lounge, Selangor Royal Club, Carey Island and Melaka.