Encore Films

• 1. Introduction

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  Encore Films is a film distribution and production company based in Singapore. Of every title the company has brought to local cinemas, one release sits at the top of its own chart. The Forbidden Kingdom, released in 2008, earned $3,350,000 in Singapore dollars, the highest gross on Encore's list of its top 25 releases. That number caps more than two decades of bringing Japanese, Hong Kong, and other Asian cinema into theaters stretching from Malaysia to India. Behind that chart is a company that started by importing other studios' films and eventually stepped behind the camera to make one of its own. What turned a small Singapore-based distributor into a record-setting business, and what pushed it to produce a film rather than simply release one?

• 2. Founding A Distributor

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  Joyce Lee, a Singaporean director and producer, founded Encore Films in 2003. She summed up its purpose as "bringing quality films to the audience in the South East Asia region."

  Encore's sister company, Simply Fun, took on the jobs Encore itself didn't, handling video distribution, cinematic subtitling, and other post-production services. That production wing would go on to prepare titles as different as the thriller Non-Stop and Japanese anime blockbusters for Singapore's screens.

• 3. The Death Note Record

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  For the past 11 years, the Death Note film series has held the box office record for Japanese films in Singapore. The franchise includes Death Note, Death Note 2: The Last Name, the spin-off L Change the World, and Death Note: Light Up The New World. Together, the four films grossed over S$5.2 million and made Death Note the No. 1 Japanese film series in Singapore.

  Death Note 2: The Last Name earned $1,750,000 in 2006, the strongest individual result among the four. Death Note itself brought in $1,420,000 that same year, while L Change the World added $1,280,000 in 2008. Death Note: Light Up The New World closed out the franchise a decade later, in 2016, with $852,473.

  Two more films would soon join Death Note atop Singapore's Asian box office charts, arriving with their casts in person.

• 4. Stars On The Red Carpet

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  In February 2015, Dragon Blade brought its cast to Singapore for a press conference, red carpet, and gala premiere. Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Choi Si-won, Lin Peng, and Mika Wang all made the trip. Dragon Blade and Attack on Titan both ranked among the top 10 Asian films in Singapore that year. Their box office takings came to S$2.6 million and S$821,500 respectively.

  Cold War 2 followed the same playbook in July 2016, when Chow Yun Fat, Aaron Kwok, and Eddie Peng promoted the film in Singapore. The trio held a press conference, red carpet, and gala premiere at Marina Bay Sands. Cold War 2 became one of the top 10 Asian films in Singapore that year, with box office of S$2.1 million. The sequel topped the box office in its opening weekend and eventually doubled the earnings of the first film.

  Encore's catalog already included two Studio Ghibli titles, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea and The Wind Rises. Those releases would matter far more once the studio's next film arrived.

• 5. Ghibli And Regional Growth

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  In January 2017, Encore Films released Makoto Shinkai's animated film your name. in Vietnam. There, it became the No. 1 Japanese film in the country. In 2023, beginning with Shinkai's Suzume, Encore expanded its distribution scope to the Philippines and Thailand. Warner Bros. Pictures took over theatrical distribution in those two territories.

  As of 2023, Encore Films serves as the de facto theatrical licensee for newly released Studio Ghibli titles across Southeast Asia and India. That role began with The Boy and the Heron.

  That same widening reach abroad ran alongside a different decision closer to home, one about making a movie rather than only releasing one.

• 6. Becoming A Producer

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  In 2016, Encore Films produced its first Singaporean film, Young & Fabulous, on a budget of S$1.5 million. Joyce Lee both produced and co-directed the film. Its cast included Aloysius Pang, Malaysian internet celebrity Joyce Chu, and Joshua Tan of Ah Boys to Men. Gurmit Singh, Henry Thia, Quan Yi Fong, Jeffrey Xu, and Jordan Ng rounded out the ensemble.

  Young & Fabulous told a coming-of-age story about three teenagers striving to overcome obstacles and fulfil their dreams. It grossed over S$1.3 million at the Singapore box office, one of only four Singaporean films to reach S$1 million domestically. The film also ranked among Singapore's top 10 Asian films that year.