Wikipedia

Keluang Man (film)

For the animated television series of the same title, see Keluang Man.

Keluang Man is an upcoming 2025 Malaysian live-action superhero film based on the eponymous Malaysian animated series by UAS Animation Studio. Produced by Astro Shaw and Pasal Productions, it's a live-action film based on the animated series created by the late Kamn Ismail, and will be the first fully live-action film from a Malaysian animation series of the 1990s. The film will be directed, written and produced by Anwari Ashraf, who co-wrote it with Roshfaizal Ariffin, Luqman Sheikh Ghazali, Natasha Azlan and Zulaikha Zakaria. It stars Nas-T as Borhan, Remy Ishak as Shamsir, Rosyam Nor as Ahmad and Anwaar Beg Moghal as Inspector Sahab.

Keluang Man
Directed byAnwari Ashraf
Written by
  • Anwari Ashraf
  • Roshfaizal Ariffin
  • Luqman Sheikh Ghazali
  • Natasha Azlan
  • Zulaikha Zakaria
Based onKeluang Man
by Kamn Ismail
Produced byAnwari Ashraf
Starring
CinematographyZulkefli Zain
Edited byIrwan Ahmad
Production
companies
Distributed byAstro Shaw
Release date
  • 2025 (2025) (Malaysia)
CountryMalaysia
LanguageMalay

The film was planned by Astro Shaw Writers' Room since 2019, led by Anwari and Roshfaizal. Development began in May 2023, when Anwari revealed the front page of the script through his social media. Nas-T was chosen as the main character through casting on social media from July to August 2023. Principal photography ran from May 2024 to July 2024, after the Eid al-Fitr month on Bandar Malaysia TUDM, Kluang, Johor, Perak and Klang Valley.

Cast

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  • Nas Muammar Zar as Borhan
  • Remy Ishak as Shamsir
  • Rosyam Nor as Ahmad, Borhan's silat teacher
  • Anwaar Beg Moghal as Inspector Sahab
  • Shweta Sekhon as Doctor Malini, a doctor who takes care of Borhan's mental health condition
  • Halim Othman
  • Dennis Yin
  • Amelia Henderson
  • Sham Sunder
  • Daniella Sya
  • AG Hafiz
  • Razzuan Rosli
  • Azlee Jaafar
  • Wahid Senario
  • Muhammad Farhaziq Ab Manaf. He also worked as a fight choreographer under the direction of Saiful Reza Shukor, action director of Flo Films.

Production

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Development

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Rumors of a live-action adaptation began on 2017 when Yahoo! News reporting that Rizal Halim was announced as director for the film with the support of Aziz M. Osman as producer by the title of Keluang Man Zero.[1] It was eventually cancelled after Rizal himself left the production in April 2018 due to unknown reasons.[2] Rizal apologized to everyone including Indonesian and Singapore actors due to their excitement for acting in the film.[3]

Official development began in 2019, when Astro Shaw Writers' Room planned to make a live-action film led by Anwari Ashraf, who has written Polis Evo franchise with Joel Soh, current managing director of Blackflag and Kyle Goonting, head of production and development in Astro Shaw and created two Astro Original Series, Projek: High Council and Projek: Anchor SPM, together with Roshfaizal Ariffin, who is known for writing and directing Didi & Friends The Movie.[4] Nas Muammar Zar or also known as Nas-T was confirmed as Keluang Man, through casting conducted by Astro Shaw via social media in July 2023, while it also got high volume of auditions and reactions from Nizam Razak, Naim Daniel[5][a] and various media outlets.[6] The auditions were later on extended until August 2023. Anwari was hired as a director and main writer of the film.[7] The film will be an origin story of Keluang Man[8] and will be aiming for a 2025 release together with Kahar: Kapla High Council[9][10] and BoBoiBoy Movie 3: Gur'latan,[11][b] that was scheduled for December of same year.

Before Astro Shaw continued their project, it struck up a partnership with Iconic Animation Studio, the original IP of Keluang Man. The partnership were signed in Astro's HQ in Bukit Jalil in May 2022 with the attendance of Raja Jastina Raja Arshad, executive producer of the film.[12] Raja Jastina told The Vibes;

"We trust that the Keluang Man brand is highly esteemed in the local animation scene and has its loyal following, many of which who grew up with the animation series.

"Even though the series first aired a long time ago, it is still beloved by many Malaysians, and we see high demand and huge anticipation from the fans for the return of Keluang Man, proving that this superhero has a special place in the audiences’ hearts and is indeed evergreen.

"We hope that this good news would excite the fans and show that local animation has the potential to be elevated to greater heights.”[13]

— Raja Jastina Raja Arshad

The film was announced on 28 November 2023 by Astro Shaw. The film will be released in 2025 together with BoBoiBoy Movie 3, produced by Animonsta Studios. Both movies will also be distributed by Animonsta.[14]

Pre-production

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Nas-T (left), Remy Ishak (middle) and Rosyam Nor (right) were chosen to become main casts for the film.

Pre-production was started in May 2023, when Anwari revealed the front cover of the script.[7] Later, Astro Shaw began casting the main character by 3 phases of audition, watched by Anwari himself on Astro's HQ, where the first phase received over 300 submissions via the Internet.[15][16] Anwari told to media that he trusted Nas because he "don't have any other choice" due to his commitment to the character in short time.[17] Besides Nas, Remy Ishak, Rosyam Nor and Anwaar Beg Moghal were chosen by Anwari himself. Anwari told the media that there will be other actors being cast from time to time throughout the filming session.[18] Astro Shaw are planning to turn Keluang Man into a cinematic universe inspired by Marvel Cinematic Universe, that will not be limited to just a single film.[19][20] Tiong Man, a sidekick for Keluang Man, will not be in the movie, even though there are demands from fans to include that character.[21]

Nas reveals that he learned four new martial arts to prepare for the film.[22] In the same article, Anwari confirmed that he's the one that requested Astro to buy property for Keluang Man to become a film.[22] Nas reveals that almost everyone called him "Keluang Man", even the mosque preacher on Friday prayer.[23]

Filming

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Principal photography was ran for 2 months starting May 2024, after Eid al-Fitr till July 2024.[24] The stunt training was led by Saiful Reza Shukor, action director of Projek: High Council and managing director of Action Flo Films.

Shweta Sekhon who was known for Miss World Malaysia 2016 and Miss Universe Malaysia 2019 was cast as Doctor Malini, a doctor that take care of Borhan's mental health condition.[25] Malini appears for the first time in Keluang Man in Episode 9, Season 1 directed by Kamn Ismail.[26] Shweta told media that she had to lose weight and scheduled her eating to make sure she was in great shape for the character of Doctor Malini.[27] Shweta also told media that her character was supposed to be "unknown" and make sure that Borhan didn't know anything.[28] For Nas, he missed his family as he forced to sacrifice for shooting the film.[29] He told mStar that he often video called his wife and children in updating their status at home.[29]

 
 
Amelia Henderson (pictured in 2016, left) and Halim Othman (pictured in 2011, right) were other cast that been revealed by Astro Shaw besides Dennis Yin, Sham Sunder and Shweta Sekhon.

Astro Shaw teased a few pictures on their social media and revealed other cast such as Dennis Yin who previously acted in Polis Evo 2,[c] Amelia Henderson, Halim Othman, Sham Sunder and Shweta herself.[30]

Post-production

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The film will be edited by Irwan Ahmad, who previously worked with Anwari for Project: Anchor SPM and Project: High Council[31] with Alan Zafri from Mira Digital become one of the visual effects supervisors for the film.

Release

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Costume design

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The costume was designed by Roshfaizal Ariffin (Rosh), co-director of Didi & Friends The Movie and co-writer of the film.[32] The design was leaked by fans in Wonda Coffee special edition canned drink after purchased it from the store.[33] It was later confirmed by Rosh himself on his Instagram that it will be an official suit, thus received praise for its armor design and originality.[32]

Marketing

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Astro Shaw and Etika Holdings announced the collaboration through Wonda Coffee for Keluang Man with Calpis Soda and Mirinda for The Experts presented by Astro Shaw.[34] The collaboration for the film will be exclusively in KidZania Kuala Lumpur.[35][36][37][38]

Astro Gempak officially opened Wonda Coffee Keluang Man of the Month category to appreciate people for making good things in social media.[39] It will be later installed into Gempak Most Wanted 2024 in 2025, the same year as the Keluang Man release.

References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ He eventually came to the set in Kluang on 28 June 2024.
  2. ^ It was originally titled BoBoiBoy: Movie 3 but was changed due to ongoing production of BoBoiBoy Galaxy Season 2 and PAPA Game On.
  3. ^ The film was co-written by Anwari himself with Joel Soh who served as director and Kyle Goonting who also served in creative director and producer.

References

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  1. ^ "Rizal Halim to direct "Keluang Man" movie". Yahoo News. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  2. ^ "Rizal Halim exits "Keluang Man Zero"". Yahoo News. 2018-04-24. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  3. ^ "Filem Keluang Man tak jadi, Rizal Halim mohon maaf". www.astroawani.com. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  4. ^ BuzzPopTV (24 May 2022). "KELUANG MAN: Filem Live-Action Oleh @astroshaw ?". YouTube. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ Chua, Dennis (6 September 2023). "#Showbiz: Naim Daniel to audition for role in 'Keluang Man' movie". New Straits Times. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Ujibakat watak utama filem aksi langsung Keluang Man kini dibuka". tergini.com. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b @anwariashraf (31 May 2023). "Bringing 'Binawe' Back" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 December 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "KELUANG MAN: Tona Kartun? #keluangman". YouTube. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Aedy Ashraf, Sky Iskandar join Amir Ahnaf in "Kahar Kapla High Council"". www.cinema.com.my. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  10. ^ Yu, Yong (2024-05-28). "Kahar: Kapla High Council". Astro Media Solutions. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  11. ^ Zahar, Fahim (31 October 2023). "BoBoiBoy Movie 3 Akan Tiba Pada 2025". Aksiz. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  12. ^ "Keluang Man bakal difilemkan". MalaysiaGazette. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Iconic Malaysian superhero 'Keluang Man' makes its comeback on the big screen". The Vibes. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  14. ^ Ariffin, Raja Yusoff (4 December 2023). "Keluang Man Bakal Beraksi di Pawagam pada Tahun 2025". Dewan Budaya. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  15. ^ "KELUANG MAN Dedah Pelakon Utama! | Road To #keluangman 2025". YouTube. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  16. ^ "KELUANG MAN: Proses Uji Bakat! #keluangman". YouTube. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  17. ^ Azam, Nadia (2023-11-29). "Anwari 'tiada pilihan' kecuali pilih Nas-T jadi Keluang Man". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  18. ^ "KELUANG MAN: Mana Tiong Man? #keluangman". YouTube. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  19. ^ "KELUANG MAN: Universe? #keluangman". YouTube. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  20. ^ Isa, Mohd Haikal (11 December 2023). "Keluang Man permulaan 'Marvel' Malaysia?". Kosmo!. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  21. ^ Dzulkiply, Siti Athirah (4 December 2023). "Keluang Man dah ada, mana pula Tiong Man?". Utusan Malaysia. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  22. ^ a b Mahmud, Farihad Shalla (2024-03-09). "Nas belajar empat jenis seni pertahan diri". Berita Harian. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  23. ^ "Ramai Dah Mula Panggil Nas Sebagai Keluang Man". gempak.com (in Malay). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  24. ^ Lee, Marcus (30 November 2023). "Keluang Man Cast Revealed, To Begin Shooting in April 2024".
  25. ^ Shweta Sekhon [@shweta_sekhon_] (2024-05-30). "A secret I've been waiting for you to know about 👀 Introducing another big role in my life, Dr Malini in @officialkeluangman ✨ Seeing the immense love and support from the media and fan-following last night has increased my drive and confidence more. Shweta harap anda semua sentiasa akan sayang dan sokong saya dan juga seluruh team #keluangman! #Meow". Bandar Malaysia TUDM. Retrieved 2024-05-30 – via Instagram.
  26. ^ "Keluang Man - Malini | Episod 9 | Musim 1". gempak.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  27. ^ Mohd Sallehuddin, Serimah (2024-06-21). "Shweta turunkan berat badan demi Keluang Man". Berita Harian (in Malay). Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  28. ^ Jefri, Syafil Syazwan (2024-06-09). "Shweta 'acah-acah tak tahu'". Harian Metro. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  29. ^ a b "Nas-T sibuk di set Keluang Man, 'video call' pengubat rindu isteri dan anak-anak - Video | mStar". www.mstar.com.my. 2024-05-31. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  30. ^ Zikri, Arif (2024-06-11). "Astro Shaw shares first behind-the-scenes look at live action 'Keluang Man film', announces additional cast". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  31. ^ Wan Muhammad Irwan Ahmad [@_irwanahmad] (2023-01-10). "Setelah Sekian Lama Tidak Post Ini Produk Editing" (in Malay) – via Instagram.
  32. ^ a b Ariffin, Roshfaizal [@roshfaizal] (2024-08-17). "I found my artwork on the latest Wonda coffee can. I should tell my orang kampung to buy. #yeay". Retrieved 2024-08-17 – via Instagram.
  33. ^ BuzzPopTV [@buzzpoptv] (2024-08-16). "Sut KELUANG MAN Tertiris! Pandang pertama sut adiwira Keluang Man untuk adaptasi filem versi live-action KELUANG MAN dari Astro Shaw Sdn Bhd - yang bakal ke pawagam pada tahun 2025. Dapatkan Wonda Coffee bertemakan Keluang Man di pasaran sekarang! Bincangkan. 🤔". Subang Jaya, Selangor – via Instagram.
  34. ^ Vijayan, Sheela (2024-03-06). "Wonda Coffee, Astro Shaw partner up to bring 'Keluang Man' to the silver screen". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  35. ^ "Keluang Man di KidZania?". www.astroawani.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  36. ^ "Keluang Man beraksi megah menerusi kolaborasi Astro Shaw, Wonda Coffee". www.astroawani.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  37. ^ "[VIDEO] Keluang Man mula 'beraksi' April ini, peminat berpeluang jadi superhero di KidZania". Majoriti.com.my (in Malay). 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  38. ^ "Ini Logo Rasmi Filem Keluang Man! Zon Wall Climbing Juga Diperkenalkan di KidZania". bm.syok.my. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
  39. ^ "Undian Dibuka, Lee Weng Foong, Aliff Ahmad, Saharuddin Amirullah & Aleeya Zailan Calon Wonda Coffee Keluang Man Of The Month!". gempak.com. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
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