Chelot keeps the most screens in Malaysia as Spider-Man: Brand New Day passes $2.3 billion

Five minutes and 19 seconds, one camera, no cuts, 1.9 kilometres of road. That is the sequence the Malaysia Book of Records certified in June as the longest single-take action sequence in a Malaysian film, and a week after Chelot opened it is on more screens than anything else in the country. This site's listings for 3 to 9 September have Adrian Teh's thriller at 117 of the 125 cinemas listed here, with 3,754 sessions across all seven chains, from Perlis to Sarawak.

RM1.1 million before the first weekend was over

Berita Harian reported on 29 August that Chelot took RM1.1 million from its preview screenings and its first official day, 27 August. The paper's account of the story is worth having before you go in: Inspector Haqqim is a special-operations officer whose money and family troubles push him into informing for a crime syndicate, until he and the people close to him are caught between the syndicate and the law. Beto Kusyairy, Shukri Yahaya, Shaheizy Sam, Nadhir Nasar, Alicia Amin, Azhan Rani and Theebaan G are the cast Berita Harian names, and Primeworks Studios is the film's marketing partner, according to the report.

What one unbroken shot costs

The record came first. Bernama reported in June that the Malaysia Book of Records had recognised the film's single-take action sequence: one unbroken shot, filmed with a single camera, covering 1.9 kilometres over five minutes and 19 seconds. The production team told Bernama it took 300 crew, 150 days of preparation, 60 hours of rehearsal and 50 prop vehicles, and called it "a rare achievement in the local film industry". Bernama lists the producers as ACT 2 Pictures, Golden Screen Cinemas, Astro Shaw, SunStrong Entertainment and Marvelous Culture & Film, and quotes Teh describing the film as his return to action after 2022's MALBATT: Misi Bakara.

For anyone deciding between a phone screen later and a cinema now, that sequence is the argument. A shot built to run uncut for five minutes was built for a hall.

The year local films pulled ahead

Chelot opens into a year when Malaysian films are outdrawing Hollywood at home. Malay Mail reported on 18 August, citing figures Finas published on its social media accounts, that local films had drawn 7.55 million admissions through July against 6.94 million for Hollywood releases. Five Malaysian films had passed RM10 million by then, according to the same report: Tarung: Unforgiven with RM20.6 million, Polong with RM15 million, Libang Libu with RM14.1 million, Malaikat Malam with RM12.2 million and Ah Beng vs Liang Po Po with RM10 million. The paper quotes Finas chief executive Datuk Azmir Saifuddin Mutalib as saying that "more and more Malaysians are choosing to watch local films", and it named Chelot among the local titles still to come.

The film it shares its screens with

The one release still standing in Chelot's way is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which opened in Malaysia on 30 July and five weeks later is on at 109 cinemas with 2,559 sessions this week, at GSC, TGV, FST, Mega and Amerin. It has kept the premium halls: this week's listings put it in 4DX at GSC (118 sessions), in Dolby Atmos halls (97) and in GSC's Play family halls (240), as well as TGV's Indulge and Getha suites. Box Office Mojo's release page puts its North American opening, on 31 July, at $360,091,572 from 4,487 theatres, and its totals as of 3 September at $896.4 million domestic, $1.441 billion international and $2.337 billion worldwide. Sony Pictures Releasing is the distributor.

Picking a session

Both films are long. Chelot is rated 16 and runs 125 minutes; Spider-Man is rated 13 and runs 145. A nine o'clock start on either finishes after eleven, and 125 of Chelot's sessions this week start after midnight, most of them in the Klang Valley. On this site a session after midnight belongs to the evening before, so a 12:30 AM show on Saturday's page is Saturday night.

The chains reallocate halls on Thursdays, so check the day's times rather than a week-old schedule. Every session on the Chelot page and the Spider-Man: Brand New Day page links to the cinema's own booking page, and the showtimes page has every cinema's Chelot times side by side. The listings are refreshed from each chain once an hour.