It doesn’t matter whether you have seen the Ah Boys to Men (ABTM) movie series or not: chances are, you would have at least heard about it through your friends or even seen posters of it.

It is a household name in the local movie scene, creating superstars and earning lots of money. Now, lest you’ve been living in 2001, here’s the “shocker”: there is going to be a new Ah Boys to Men coming out, simply titled Ah Boys to Men 4.

Yeah, the movie that sparked this debate.

It’s only about one more month till the release. So, here we have it: 12 facts about this popular franchise and about the latest movie.

Guys, fall in!

1) So far, there are 4 instalments

The latest one that is coming out will be the franchise’s 4th movie. Here’s a breakdown of the previous movies in case you’ve got goldfish memory.

• Ah Boys to Men came out in 2012 and has its cast as BMT recruits. It raked in SGD$6.3 million.
• Ah Boys to Men 2 came out in 2013 and it continues the story from Ah Boys to Men. It made a total of SGD$7.9 million.
• Ah Boys to Men 3: Frogmen came out in 2015 and is a brand new story about soldiers from the NDU. It has a box office of SGD$7.8 million.

Yeah, so after a two-year hiatus, they are back!

And just for comparison’s sake, Jack Neo’s directed movie, Long Long Time Ago 2, has a box office of merely SGD$2.32 million.

2) One of the highest grossing films in Singapore

The army plot definitely resonates with Singaporeans, with good reasons.

As mentioned, all in all, the movies have raked in a totality of SGD$22 million with a total production cost of SGD$5.85 million.

Now, let’s compare it with the two-parter Long Long Time Ago: it brought in a totality of SGD$6.47 million with a production cost of SGD$5 million.

It’s no surprise that there might be Ah Boys to Men 9 very, very soon.

3) Jack Neo, the genius behind the movie franchise

Jack Neo, also known for playing the iconic old grandmother, Liang Po Po and Liang Xi Mei in local telly, has directed other films as well, including I Not Stupid, I Not Stupid Too and the comedy-horror film Where Got Ghost?

In recent years, he has moved on to produce movies as well as direct them.

4) From actors to superstars

The actors, Joshua Tan, Noah Yap and Tosh Zhang have become local celebrities after the success of the movie.

There is always a price to pay when it comes to fame, though.

Noah Yap made the news last year when he was caught with cannabis aka weed. He was jailed for nine months in SAF detention barracks.

5) Actors got to look the part

Maxi Lim made the news for his drastic weight loss.

Known for his nerdy outlook in the first two movies, he shed 11kg as for his role in the third movie.

SO MUCH DEDICATION.

Though…in this movie, I don’t think much dedication is needed. After all, they’re reservists. Have you seen reservist soldiers before?

6) ABTM 4 doesn’t really need any press coverage

Even before the movie had an opening date, the movie already caused a storm in social media earlier this year.

There was a walk-in audition for the 4th instalment and the team was looking for fresh faces to join the cast

Shrey Bhargava, one of the many hopefuls went for the audition but was quite displeased. He then posted a wordy post which went viral.

You can actually read it here if you have been living under a rock.

So the whole thing caused a storm, it was a hot topic. Even Xiaxue weighed in, so you know this thing was of monumental levels.

7) There is a female officer in ABTM 4

As you know the movie franchise, you’ll know that the cast is predominantly male, showing the life and times of army recruits.

This time round, there will be a female officer in the mix! The character is played by actress Apple Chan.

Maybe this will encourage girls to serve the nation as well. Who won’t like her as their platoon commander?

8) When ABTM 3 came out, the cast were all ready to move on

When ABTM 3 was released, there was no confirmation whether there would be another one in the works.

They were all ready to move on with their careers, as mentioned in this article by The Straits Times.

But guess what……..

Joshua Tan, Maxi Lim, Wang Weiliang and Tosh Zhang will all be returning for this movie.

For all the ladies, you will see your favorite boys on the big screen.

9) Movie release date

Ok lah. I will tell you when the movie is coming out.

So ABTM Facebook just announced their movie opening date! Here’s the date to note: 9 November 2017.

The official Ah Boys to Men Facebook page posted this image with its release date, and guess what?

In less than 20 hours, it garnered well over 14K Shares.

Pretty sure this is the first time people get so excited over a SAF 100.

10) What is it all about?

The movie will revolve around an Armour reservist unit.

For you girls or foreigners, here’s some context: the Armour unit is a unit that comprises tanks.

And here’s more context: reservist (or you can call it ICT) is very different from BMT. Soldiers are much older, have more commitments (i.e. work and life) and are usually…erm, maybe you should ask any of your male Singaporean friends.

Let’s just say sleeping is one of the tasks in an ICT. Usually lah.

11) There will be battle scenes next to an HDB flat

Say what?!

Seven armoured vehicles were used for this scene.

The best part is that this movie is supposed to have more action scenes. So for people who missed Descendants of The Sun, here’s where you can experience it again.

This time, by in a uniform with the word “Singapore”.

12) ABTM 5?

So I headed to Jack Neo’s Wikipedia page and I saw this.

OMG, ABTM 5 would be out in 2018?

We all know Wikipedia’s information is as reliable as a fish trying to walk. But it would be no surprise if it is true.

But seriously, if it’s about reservist soldiers…shouldn’t it be called Uncles to Lao Peng? #justsaying

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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

Read Also

• ABTM4, A Film About Reservist, Has A War Scene Right Next To An HDB
• ABTM4 Saga Continues As Actor Defends So Much, He Should Be a Defender in a Soccer Team

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