PETALING JAYA, Nov 16 — After raking in an impressive RM5 million in just 12 days, Malaysian comedy Mael Totey The Movie smashed another record by recently netting RM6.4 million on Astro First.
This makes it the highest-grossing film on Astro First, surpassing favourites Polis Evo and Hantu Kak Limah since its premiere on October 22.
The movie’s latest earnings were recorded on its 23rd day of screening on the Astro pay-per-view channel.
The announcement was made on reality singing competition Gegar Vaganza last night by hosts Nabil Ahmad and Jihan Muse.
According to mStar, the film may have surpassed Polis Evo and Hantu Kak Limah on Astro First but would not be able to compete with the box office earnings of those films since Mael Totey did not receive a cinema release.
Hantu Kak Limah raked in RM36.23 million at the box office in 2018 while Polis Evo (2015) made RM17.14 million and Polis Evo 2 (2018) made RM22.45 million.
Mael Totey director Syahmi Sazli took to Instagram to thank fans for their support.
“Mael Totey The Movie successfully collected RM6.4 million.
“We made history by breaking the records of Polis Evo and Hantu Kak Limah.
“Thank you for your continuous support,” said the popular YouTuber who also stars as the titular character.
Despite the film’s popularity, not everyone is a fan of it, including filmmaker and producer Ellie Suriati who said in an interview the film should not be used as a benchmark for creative works.
Ellie told mStar last week that Mael Totey was lacking in the technical aspects of film production.
The film’s plot centres around Mael, a naive young man who strives hard to learn English to win the girl of his dreams, Yaya.
In his efforts to fulfil the conditions set by Yaya, he meets Teacher, whose patience and kindness lead him to fall in love with her instead.
Mael Totey The Movie is available via pay-per-view on Astro First (Channel 480), Astro GO and Ultra Box, priced at RM15 for two days.
