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Exclusive: United Studios’ records sales with multiple territories on the 3D animation.

Malaysia’s United Studios has pre-sold 3D animation comedy adventure Ribbit to multiple territories including UK (Lionsgate), South Korea (Korea Screen), Cis (Premium Films), Poland (Monolith Films) and Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (Splendid).

About a frog with an identity crisis, the animation directed by Chuck Powers is voiced by Sean Astin (Lord Of The Rings), Tim Curry (The Hunt For Red October), comedian Russell Peters and Cherami Leigh (Fast Food Nation).

Ribbit is co-produced by Kru International (Malaysia) and Crest Animation Studios Ltd (India) and partly financed by the Malaysian government through the Multimedia Development Corporation.

The Stereoscopic 3D version of the film will premiere at the Cannes market this year.

Comedian Russell Peters and actor Sean Astin (Lord Of The Rings) have boarded Malaysian 3D animated feature Ribbit as voice cast.

British actor Tim Curry and Cherami Leigh (Fast Food Nation) will also voice the film, which is co-produced by Malaysia’s Kru International and India’s Crest Animation Studios. Malaysia’s Multimedia Development Corporation has partly financed the project.

Directed and written by Chuck Powers, the film was recorded in Los Angeles with animation production taking place in Malaysia and India and development and post-production entirely in Malaysia. The bulk of the rendering was done in Hong Kong.

The film is the tale of a frog with an identity crisis.

“We have been in the entertainment business since 1992; however we realise that the best way for us to go global is via animated feature films and television shows,” said Kru president Norman A. Halim.

“We have gathered the best talents in the region for Ribbit. We also...

Say it out loud, and the title Vikingdom, that slapdash portmanteau, reveals its hidden promise: Viking Dumb. That's a fair summation of the glory and ridiculousness of what director Yusry Abd Halim and his cohorts at Kru Productions have pulled off in this B-movie gone amok. They only could have improved on its accuracy if they'd just gone ahead and called it exactly what it is: The First and Best-Ever Malaysian Viking Flick with All-English Dialogue.

Imagine an old Hollywood mead-and-beard epic like The Long Ships (based on Frans G. Bengtsson's thrilling, hilarious novel, recently reprinted by Nyrb Classics) directed by an acolyte of young Peter Jackson—rococo violence! that restless camera! charming, cheap-o monsters!—who is determin...

Former Uwe Boll actors Dominic Purcell and Natassia Malthe team up to take on an evil Thor in Yusry Abd Halim’s expensive looking action-adventure fantasy epic “Vikingdom”. Thor is up to no good in this one, which will probably make the Odin Father very angry. Where’s Loki when you need him? Maybe Marvel can spare Tom Hiddleston to make a cameo. Couldn’t hurt to ask, right? Or maybe one of Thor’s fellow Avengers… Anyhoo. Check out a pair of trailers and a batch of images from the film. It actually looks pretty good. Or at least, very interesting. Jon Foo of “Tekken” fame is in this one, too. (Or Jon Foo of “Tekken” infamy in case you didn’t like “Tekken”. To each his own.) In the midst of time comes the clanging of steel against steel, a collision of myth and history…. “Vikingdom”. Based on...

Image Entertainment will release Clash of Empires, the 2011 Malaysian action-adventure epic film, on Blu-ray and DVD on Sept. 6, for the list prices of $29.97 and $27.97, respectively.

Set against the backdrop of the ancient Malay, Roman and Chinese civilizations in the year 120 Ad, the movie tells the tale of the journey of warrior Merong Mahawangsa (Stephen Rahman Hughes, Highlander: The Source) as he escorts a Roman prince (Gavin Stenhouse, TV’s Nearly Famous) through the dangerous regions of Asia to meet his bride-to-be, the beautiful Chinese princess Meng Li Hua (Jing Lusi, Jack Falls). As a daughter of the expanding Han Dynasty, the princess is a great prize — and when she is kidnapped, it sets everyone on a course that could alter the fate of the entire world.

Directed, co-written, and co-produced by Yusry Abdul Halim, Clash of Empires is loosely based on a 16th century Malay document that chronicles the bloodline...

There are some seriously freaky shenanigans at work in “Karak”, none of which make any sense to me whatsoever. But that’s okay. I don’t really need coherence from a trailer that features a floating severed head with villainous intentions. I understand that certain individuals require a bit more depth from their horror cinema, and I applaud them for that. However, sometimes you don’t need proper explanations, especially when floating severed heads are involved. If nothing else, you have to admire director Yusry Abdul Halim’s ambitions. The guy is certainly giving it his all. Need a plot? Here you go: Based on urban legends and other chilling sightings along the Karak highway, “Karak” is Kru Studios’ maiden foray into the realm of horror films and is helmed by acclaimed director, Yusry Abdul Halim. Four college students are heading back to Kuantan after a night out in Kl,...

It was way back in November 2008 that we first covered news of the upcoming big budget Malaysia epic The Chronicles of Merong. Even then we thought Malay movie execs were looking to follow in the footsteps of Thailand’s swathe of blockbuster historical/fantasy epics - including ‘King Naresuan’ and ‘Queen of Langkasuka’ - and now a first promo reel for the movie has arrived, it seems we were bang on the money. Merong will have huge war scenes, swashbuckling sea battles, and martial arts showdowns featuring a mixture of silat (Malay martial arts), kungfu and sword-figthing, choreographed by martial arts experts from the Jackie Chan team in Hong Kong. All this is being directed by Yusry Abdul Halim, backed by an international cast that includes Stephen Rahman Hughes, Gavin Rees StenHouse, mainland Chinese actress Jing Lusi, Craig Fong, Deborah Henry, Datuk Rahim Razali and Khir Rahman. Surprisingly the movies...

It was way back in November 2008 that we first covered news of the upcoming big budget Malaysia epic The Chronicles of Merong. Even then we thought Malay movie execs were looking to follow in the footsteps of Thailand’s swathe of blockbuster historical/fantasy epics - including ‘King Naresuan’ and ‘Queen of Langkasuka’ - and now a first promo reel for the movie has arrived, it seems we were bang on the money. Merong will have huge war scenes, swashbuckling sea battles, and martial arts showdowns featuring a mixture of silat (Malay martial arts), kungfu and sword-figthing, choreographed by martial arts experts from the Jackie Chan team in Hong Kong. All this is being directed by Yusry Abdul Halim, backed by an international cast that includes Stephen Rahman Hughes, Gavin Rees StenHouse, mainland Chinese actress Jeng Lu, Craig Fong, Deborah Henry, Datuk Rahim Razali and Khir Rahman. Surprisingly the movies...

It was way back in November 2008 that we first covered news of the upcoming big budget Malaysia epic The Chronicles of Merong. Even then we thought Malay movie execs were looking to follow in the footsteps of Thailand’s swathe of blockbuster historical/fantasy epics - including ‘King Naresuan’ and ‘Queen of Langkasuka’ - and now a first promo reel for the movie has arrived, it seems we were bang on the money. Merong will have huge war scenes, swashbuckling sea battles, and martial arts showdowns featuring a mixture of silat (Malay martial arts), kungfu and sword-figthing, choreographed by martial arts experts from the Jackie Chan team in Hong Kong. All this is being directed by Yusry Abdul Halim, backed by an international cast that includes Stephen Rahman Hughes, Gavin Rees StenHouse, mainland Chinese actress Jeng Lu, Craig Fong, Deborah Henry, Datuk Rahim Razali and Khir Rahman. Surprisingly the movies...