Recent high-profile titles have sparked new international interest but Asian sellers still face a tough climate.
Sales agents from across Asia are looking to the year ahead with cautious optimism. High-profile hits such as Thai box-office phenomenon How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, award-winning Indian drama All We Imagine As Light and Hong Kong action film Twilight Of The Warriors: Walled In have sparked fresh interest in features from across the region. However, sellers are acutely aware that challenges remain when transposing titles from Asian theatres to cinemas in Europe and beyond.
“The number of films being produced in Asia has slightly decreased, and many buyers are more cautious when making purchasing decisions,” says Youngkyung Sohn, manager of international business at South Korea’s Contents Panda. “It’s also becoming harder to predict the market compared to before, especially in terms of which films will perform well in specific regions. However, films featuring K-pop stars are in high demand and the appetite for horror films from Southeast Asia is overwhelmingly high.”
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Sohn says the “mood is good” going into the European Film Market (EFM) with a slate that includes Dark Nuns, a horror thriller that has proven a local box-office hit and has “sold very well, proving a hot title across Asia”.
Others assert that while Berlin remains an important festival for Asia, they anticipate closing more business at Hong Kong Filmart in March while saving their big European push for Cannes in May. “The EFM is a place to show up, not to close many deals,” says Miyuki Takamatsu, president and CEO of Japan’s Free Stone Productions. “The appetite for Japanese films is still there but Asian markets are a bit slower than before so we need to have good films.”
The key ingredients for strong sales are successful box-office numbers locally, a solid director with potential, and outstanding IP to attract the attention of streaming platforms, says Takamatsu. “Actors used to be the most important factor when selling films to the international market, but the value of rising directors with good plots are now more attractive,” she adds.
Takamatsu highlights that Japan’s “Cannes 4K” (Kore-eda, Kurosawa, Kitano and Kawase) remain a powerful draw, but that a deeper pipeline of filmmakers is important to future-proof the industry, citing Chie Hayakawa (Plan 75) and Hiroshi Okuyama (My Sunshine) alongside the likes of award winners Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) and Koji Fukada (Love Life).
One new company set to attend the EFM is Singapore-based Mokster Films, overseen by former WME Independent agent Nelson Mok. Mokster handles rights to How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which became the highest-grossing feature of 2024 in Thailand and Singapore and the biggest Asian film of all time in Indonesia. It has sold to dozens of international territories, with further sales pending.
Mok says the film has changed the attitude to features from Thailand and the wider region, which he anticipates will bear fruit in the year ahead. “The success of How To Make Millions has significantly boosted interest in Thai content, particularly in Europe and Latin America,” he says. “This has also begun to drive interest in films from Southeast Asia. High production value dramas are attracting strong attention, while horror remains a staple in the market.”
Horror is a speciality of Panu Aree, general manager of production and distribution at Bangkok-based Neramitnung Film, who also directed 2024 chiller The Cursed Land. “Within Asia, especially the Southeast Asian region, horror films remain highly popular as evidenced by ongoing inquiries about the genre,” he explains. “In North America and Europe, action films and thrillers with strong plots tend to perform better than other genres. However following the success of How To Make Millions, there has been a noticeable increase in the interest in drama films.”
Aree also recognises that it remains tough to achieve success outside the region. “The European market remains a challenging territory for us, as Thai films often struggle to find a foothold there,” he says. “Locally driven comedies that are heavily rooted in regional culture may not resonate well with audiences outside the region, as the humour and context can be difficult for non-local viewers to grasp. However, I remain cautiously optimistic that the EFM will offer more opportunities to gain visibility and reach audiences in Europe.”
Free Stone’s Takamatsu adds that there is work to be done if the Asian film industry hopes to extend its reach beyond local shores. “Film professionals, especially producers, need to look more at international co-production projects, working with companies like Free Stone to help them discover what works for the international market,” she says. “They can no longer just give us a completed film of more than two hours with locally popular actors if they really want to fight on the international stage.”
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