“With a producer as professional as Sheila (Timothy) our job was not to get in her way,” said Rieder. The final picture was completed in 4K, exceeding Fox’s contractual requirement that it be delivered in 2K. Local firm, Caravan Studio and Chris Lie provided key costume and weapons design, while the large volume of VFX shots was farmed out to 10 local effects companies. Preparations, pre-visualization and rehearsals lasted for six months, ahead of a 74-day shoot on locations in West Java and in studios in Jakarta. Rieder says the studio offered minimal script notes and largely kept out of the way of a solidly Indonesian team. Despite the film being Fox’s first in South East Asia, there was no need to make things complicated. Kurt Rieder, Fox’s executive VP, theatrical distribution in Asia, says Indonesia has the scale (box office has grown at an estimated 28% per year for the past four years to hit $345 million in 2017) and development potential that makes it of great interest to the Hollywood studios. That was lifted in 2016-17, but to date the handful of significant foreign direct investment plays have been in the exhibition sector, not production or distribution. With 185-books in the series and an earlier TV adaptation, the “212” franchise and the “Wiro Sableng” movie start with the benefit of a major fan base.įor decades the film industry in Indonesia was on a so-called negative list, which prohibited foreign investment.
The story’s roots are in the “212 Warrior” series of martial arts fantasy novels, written by Bastian Tito (Vino Bastian’s father) over a period of 39 years. The script for “Wiro Sableng” was co-written by Tumpal Tamubolon, Seno Gumira Ajidarma and Sheila Timothy (“The Forbidden Door,” “Tabula Rasa”,) a filmmaker and former advertising executive who doubles up as producer through her Lifelike Pictures.
The result has something of the feel of “Baahubali” the smash hit fantasy actioner that emerged onto a global stage in 2015 from South India, not the internationally-known Bollywood.
Where the cinematic effort gains strength is both from its heritage, and from its slick packaging and presentation. Along the way Crazy Wiro picks up some unusual friends, falls for a gorgeous princess, and learns to control his own superpowers.
Combining local mythology, Indonesia’s Silat form of martial arts, and a couple of fart jokes, the film tells the story of a young man who doesn’t take himself too seriously (Wiro, played by Vino Bastian) who comes of age while on a quest to reclaim the throne for the rightful king, and exorcising some of his own demons.
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