SINGAPORE – Singapore’s most commercially successful film-maker Jack Neo is set to release two movies in 2024, both of which are the third instalments of celebrated local comedy franchises.
I Not Stupid 3 is part of the series about children and parents going through the local education system, while Money No Enough 3 is another entry in the franchise about Singaporeans dreaming of financial success.
The reason for the bunching? The pandemic, says Neo, speaking to The Straits Times at Equarius Hotel at Resorts World Sentosa on Tuesday after a press event to announce Money No Enough 3.
He was joined onstage by local actors and frequent collaborators Mark Lee, 54, and Henry Thia, 71.
“I Not Stupid was set to go out just before Covid hit. We were supposed to film it in China. But by the time the pandemic was over, the story had become outdated,” says the 63-year-old writer-director.
Chinese educational policy had changed, so the Singapore-China co-production moved home.
The China adaptation would have been a debut of the concept for that country, but because it is now set in Singapore, calling it the third movie seemed logical, Neo says.
The first movie was released in 2002 and its sequel, I Not Stupid Too, in 2006. The third film is slated for a mid-2024 release.
Money No Enough (1998) was directed by Tay Teck Lock, with Neo serving as actor and screenwriter, and Lee and Thia as co-stars.
It grossed $5.8 million in Singapore, outperforming many Hollywood and Hong Kong productions here.
And its record-setting box office at the time destroyed the myth that Singaporeans would never pay to watch a local movie.
Money No Enough 2 (2008) was directed by and starred Neo alongside co-stars Lee and Thia, with the three playing new characters. It was also a hit, earning $4.8 million locally.
The third movie is expected to be released in 2024 during Chinese New Year.
As reported in trade magazine Variety, the story revolves around three “young seniors” who become mired in financial woes after one of them creates an illegal business using money borrowed from the other two.
It has been 15 years since the release of Money No Enough 2, which focused on three brothers (Neo, Lee and Thia) embroiled in a get-rich-quick scheme selling dangerous nutritional supplements – products that made the news a few years before the film’s release.
Neo says the third movie will also use scenarios pulled from the headlines.
“The world of money has seen big changes recently, but people’s ideas about money will never change,” he says.
“We will always want more money. And when we have more, you change.”
In Money No Enough 2, for example, the brothers put getting rich ahead of caring for their sick mother. During their chase for the pot of gold, they “pushed her here and there”, hoping that others would pick up the slack.
In the upcoming sequel, shady salesmen tap the buyer’s fear of losing out as they tout NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and cryptocurrency – the nutritional supplements and hot stock tips of the digital age, Neo says.
Young people also have big dreams of becoming social media stars. And, for some, getting ahead involves no-holds-barred cheating.
Neo says: “Compared with 2008, values have changed. It’s so different now.”
“People sabotage friends for money. They think scamming is okay. They want money and they don’t care about the damage they do to victims,” he adds. “They’re scary.”
