Munafik: Melawan Iblis, Indonesia's remake of the Malaysian horror hit, opens here on 1 October

The Indonesian remake of Munafik reaches Malaysia on Thursday 1 October, and it arrives with a number behind it. Munafik: Melawan Iblis drew 137,000 viewers on its first day in Indonesia, according to Utusan Malaysia, and this site's listings already have it at 39 Malaysian cinemas, 36 of them TGV's, with 285 sessions listed for the Thursday and Friday alone.

137,000 on the first day in Indonesia

The figure came from Datuk Yusof Haslam, the producer and director, whose son Syamsul Yusof made the original Munafik in 2016. In Utusan's report of 9 September, Yusof said the remake was allowed because the film had reached its tenth year and Syamsul had agreed to it. Their side holds a share in the co-production, he said, though a small one, with the Indonesian partners holding the majority.

He had already seen the film in Jakarta. The Indonesian version is not a copy, he told the paper: some scenes are the same, some are not, and there are added characters and changes to the story, which in his view give it an identity of its own, along with a cinematography and direction that differ from the original's. Which version is better he left to audiences.

Syamsul Yusof co-wrote it, Guntur Soeharjanto directed

Utusan describes the film as the first collaboration between Syamsul Yusof, who is co-writer and creative adviser, and the Indonesian director Guntur Soeharjanto. TGV's listing names Arya Saloka, Acha Septriasa and Dimas Aditya in the cast. Its synopsis follows Adam, a religious teacher who stopped performing ruqyah after his wife died, and who is asked to save Fitri, a woman terrorised by supernatural forces; when he takes up ruqyah again, he uncovers a dark secret behind what is happening to her. TGV rates it 16 and lists it at 103 minutes, in Bahasa Indonesia with English subtitles.

The first Maria is watching

Nabila Huda, who played Maria in the 2016 film and won Best Actress at the 28th Malaysia Film Festival for the role, told the New Straits Times that when she heard about the remake, "my heart swelled with immense pride", and that she was looking forward to seeing how a new cast interpreted the story. The paper recalls that the original, produced by Skop Productions, broke local box-office records on its release.

A preview night, then 36 TGV cinemas

The first sessions come before the opening. GSC LaLaport BBCC has three late on Tuesday 29 September, at 11:55pm, 12:10am and 12:25am, and TGV Suria KLCC has it in six halls at once on Wednesday 30 September, at 8:45pm and 9pm, two of them Indulge halls. From Thursday it is on at 36 TGV cinemas and two FST cinemas, with Selangor holding 86 of its sessions, Kuala Lumpur 75 and Johor 48; 22 start after midnight.

The Munafik: Melawan Iblis page lists every cinema and session, including the two preview nights, and the showtimes page puts each cinema's Munafik times side by side. The classification is 16, so it is not one for younger teenagers, and every session links to the chain's own booking page.