Every now and then Malaysia punches above its creative weight, capturing attention and highlighting the country’s storytelling assets across a region that can seem obsessed with Korea.

Ejen Ali is that superhero.

The long-loved icon returned in May this year, six years after breaking box office records for the 2019 Malaysian animated film, closing at about RM30 million/US$7.26 million.

In May, the sequel whipped past the RM55 million/US$13 million mark. By mid-June – less than a month after its premiere – the film was on track to hit its expected RM60 million-RM70 million/US$14 million-US$16.5 million lifetime gross.

This makes the Primeworks Studios/WAU Animation title the most successful local and international animated film in Malaysia ever.

All of which gives the premium entertainment industry some reason to celebrate as it pushes hard to retell its own success story.

Under-reported regionally for various reasons, Malaysia nevertheless has a lively production industry, which operates on smaller budgets than producers would like (of course), but is the home of original IP that is being snapped up by regional streaming platforms (all of which, with the exception of Viu, have stepped back from their own originals for now).

On the channels and streaming apps side of the business, Malaysia remains a distribution priority for regional and international streaming apps (See Streaming on pages 34 & 35 of ContentAsia's The Big List directory). This has been welcomed by platforms aggregators and telcos, and, although the segment’s share is declining, for linear channels as well.

With a market cap of approx US$185 million and serving 5.2 million households, Astro is Southeast Asia’s largest pay-TV operator. The company also remains Malaysia’s largest partner for international channel programmers.

At the end of April 2025, Astro carried 138 channels (128 HD, 47 Astro-branded channels and two ultra HD channels along with 107,000 on-demand videos).

This runs alongside the platform’s longheld commitment to vernacular content. In FY2025, Astro produced almost 11,000 hours of local content. The company has coupled its focus on local content with a 24% drop in content costs over the past five years.

Astro has approached the changed media environment with an integrated strategy that aligns all steps on the creative and monetisation route. These include the Rocketfuel talent business, streaming service sooka and Astro Shaw films along with the traditional TV business.

The end-to-end content business is headed up by Agnes Rozario, who was appointed chief content officer at the beginning of April 2025.

One example of the integrated strategy is live-action feature film Keluang Man, which didn’t perform as well as hoped at the box office but is part of a bigger cross-platform initiative – including music/publishing rights and digital platforms – that creates value for the IP.

Directed by Anwari Ashraf, the Keluang Man is based on a Malaysian superhero created in the late 1990s as an animated TV series by Kamn Ismail, follows Borhan (played by Nas-T), a mental hospital patient who becomes a masked vigilante to fight crime in the fictional town of Tampoi, inspired by Johor’s Kluang.

The film’s budget is said to have been RM13 million/US$3 million. Box-office data coming out of Malaysia put the gross at RM3.9 million/US$911,000.

Another Astro initiative is boy-band talent hunt, Big Stage Alpha, which also has potential for the 360 amplification/monetisation model that tops Rozario’s priority list. “It’s not just about owning the talent, it’s about a pathway to success for them,” she says.

Alpha, the band created during the Big Stage Alpha reality show, has already released its first original song, Mona Lisa (Bang Bang), and is working on the original soundtrack for an upcoming Astro drama.

Backed by its strong Chinese-speaking audience, Astro’s recent cross-border alliances are led by Malaysia-Taiwan co-pro, Sayang, which wrapped production this month (July 2025). The feature, executive produced by Jin Ong backed by a group of government and private bodies, is a first from Golden Horse winning documentary director Tang Hsiang-chu and is billed as a “decade-long love letter to Malaysia”.

The traditional video entertainment business also retains up-clos- and-personal ties with Telekom Malaysia’s Unifi TV (formerly HyppTV), which carries about 70 linear channels and a bundle of apps.

Meanwhile, listed broadcast giant Media Prima, which operates the country’s largest free-TV services (58% audience share in Jan-March 2025) along with the most resilient digital platform tonton, is the largest supplier of original Malay content around the region, with a robust original content and licensing business for third-party free-TV and streaming services.

Media Prima’s market cap is about RM400 million/US$95 million. For the quarter to end March 2025, Media Prima’s content sales revenue hit RM4,709,000/approx US$1.1 million – up 11.4% on the same period the previous year. (See Free TV & Streaming sections of ContentAsia's The Big List directory)

Among Media Prima’s 2025’s top shows are prime-time weekday dramas aired in the Akasia early evening belt.

These are typically emotionally charged, relationship-driven stories. Series include Bukan Sekadar Lafaz, a tale of love, jealousy and family honour, rooted in tropes of mistaken identity, arranged marriage and emotional sacrifice; and Jamal Khan-directed Wanita Milik Kaiden, about a woman torn between two loves. Both are released on Media Prima’s tonton digital service and stream on Chinese platform iQiyi an hour after their domestic release.

Hong Kong-based streamer Viu, co-owned by PCCW and Canal+, is way ahead of regional/international streamers in made-in-Malaysia streaming drama – and always has been. Viu’s Malaysia originals include 2025 time-travel drama Gadis Masa (Yesterday’s You) about a woman who goes back to the past to save her marriage only to find that fate has its own plan; and the Umi Salwana Omar-directed Seribu Nina (2022), about a straight-laced groom who transcends his second thoughts about marriage when his free-spirited girlfriend is kidnapped and he sets out to rescue her.

On Netflix, which remains the most transparent streaming platform operating in Asia, Malaysia’s tastes are overwhelmingly Korean. Local animated sci-fi superhero spinoff – Monsta Studios’ BoBoiBoy Galaxy: Gentar – was the only local show to reach #1 on Netflix in the first 26 weeks of 2025; the spinoff was at #1 for two weeks in January. U.S. titles American Murder: Gabby Petito, Zero Day and Halo) were #1 for three weeks, and U.K. hit Adolescence took top spot for one week. The other 20 weeks were ruled by Korean titles: Squid Game S2, The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call: S1, When Life Gives You Tangerines, Weak Hero, Karma, Resident Playbook, Weak Hero: Class 2, The Haunted Palace, Tastefully Yours and Squid Game S3.

A version of this profile was published on Tuesday, 7 July 2025 along with a list of Malaysia's top platforms and producers. The full directory is here. 

ContentAsia's The Big List directory is published monthly focusing on a different country every month. Links to previous editions are here

TAIWAN (April 2025)

PHILIPPINES (May 2025)

THAILAND (June 2025) 

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