KUALA LUMPUR, February 24 — Malaysian production houses Astro Shaw and Infinitus Productions are collaborating to produce the country’s first-ever Battle Royale film, Wantugo.
The Battle Royale genre, which revolves around a group of characters forced to fight until only one remains, was originally coined from the 2000 cult classic film of the same name by Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku.
Over the years, the genre has seen numerous adaptations, some achieving overwhelming commercial success — for instance, The Hunger Games film franchise and, more recently, Netflix’s Squid Game series.
Now that that’s out of the way, here’s everything we know about Wantugo so far.
Behind Wantugo
Wantugo is a colloquial abbreviation of the phrase ‘one, two, go.’
The 90-minute feature film is directed by Nurhanisham Muhammad, who has helmed several projects, including local series such as Scammer and X-Change. He is also widely recognised as the cinematographer behind the 2019 local box-office hit Sangkar.
Currently in the final stages of principal photography, Wantugo was filmed in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru, and Selangor. The film is expected to hit cinemas nationwide by the end of the year.
It boasts a stellar line-up of local stars including Meerqeen, Zul Ariffin, Elizabeth Tan, Daiyan Trisha, Sein Qudsi, Sky Iskandar, Yusof Hashim, and Arfie Shah, as well as local Victoria Secret’s model and actress Nia Atasha.
The story follows Zak (played by Meerqeen) and his group of friends, known as The Clique, who wake up in an abandoned theme park, where they are introduced to the Game Master and the rules.
To escape, they must survive three stages of death games, with only one allowed to be the last one standing.
However, as the games progress, Zak and his friends realise they are being forced to remember events from the past involving their college mate, Luqman (played by Arfie Shah). As tensions flare, they begin to turn on one another.
Getting into character
Actor Meerqeen is known for his roles in local TV dramas including the hit series ‘Melur Untuk Firdaus’. — Picture by Sayuti Zainuddin
Meerqeen, best known for his roles in local TV dramas, said that playing Zak was one of the most challenging roles he has ever taken on.
The Melur Untuk Firdaus actor shared that this is his first time playing a mentally depressed character. He described Zak as an introverted and melancholic orphan who is constantly haunted by his past traumas.
“Acting wise, I’ve taken up roles similar to this one before but that character is kind of psychotic whereas this time around, my character is more inclined to depression where he loves to be left alone, he doesn’t want to meet or even talk to people.
“So it’s two different characters and Zak is definitely one of the hardest characters I’ve portrayed,” Meerqeen said.
The 23-year-old is also excited to be working alongside local TV drama director and Ruffedge member Sein Qudsi, who after years of being in the director’s chair, is finally returning on screen to play Azam, Zak’s brother.
Meerqeen said that his previous experience working under Sein made it easier for them to collaborate again on Wantugo.
He added that the extra challenges he faced in this film were what attracted him to sign on to the project.
Actress Elizabeth Tan will be playing a five-month pregnant woman named Isabelle in Wantugo. — Picture courtesy of Astro Shaw
It is also not an easy feat for starlet Elizabeth Tan who plays Isabelle, a five-month pregnant woman.
Tan, who has just received the Best Supporting Actress award at the 33rd Malaysia’s Film Festival (FFM33) last December, said that she has to reconnect more with her feminine side for the character as she is more used to playing roles of police officers previously.
“It’s more challenging actually and I think playing the role of a police officer is much easier.
“I had to soften my voice and I’ve watched a lot of films and series with pregnant women in it and studied how they talk and their body languages.
“It’s been interesting and I hope I did well because I have never been pregnant for five months before,” Tan said.
The Police Entry singer, who experienced miscarriage last year, said that taking up the role of a pregnant woman is like a prayer for her and her husband Dr Ding Siew Jim.
She added that although many might assume Wantugo to be similar to Squid Game, Tan said the film is very different from the award-winning South Korean series and it has its own feel to it.
