MD Entertainment Plots 'Pabrik Gula' Sequel for 2028 and Three Imax Films

Indonesian studio MD Entertainment will release a sequel to its 2025 horror hit "Pabrik Gula" in early 2028 and has three Imax films lined up for 2027, the company's head of content licensing and global business, Astrid Wienardi, announced Sunday at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei.

"Pabrik Gula" sold more than 5 million tickets in Indonesia before traveling to Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the U.S. and Europe. Its popularity is what pushed MD to commit to a second installment.

The studio's slate is deep. MD plans 12 to 13 releases in 2027, led by horror alongside comedy and drama. "Ivanna 2," a sequel to the spinoff from the "Danur" horror universe about a headless Dutch woman, arrives early next year.

How MD built the franchise machine

MD's Imax relationship began with "Badarawuhi," the prequel to "KKN di Desa Penari" and the first Southeast Asian film shot for the format. "KKN di Desa Penari" itself sold 10.7 million tickets at home — an Indonesian record at the time.

One of the three 2027 Imax titles will draw on "Dhot Design," a YouTube animated series about four friends that pulls between 8 million and 10 million views per episode. Lionsgate and CJ are also among MD's strategic partners, alongside Korea's SBS, which has invested in the company.

The decision to extend a series, spin off a title or grow a franchise rests on feedback from platform partners and fan comments on social media, Wienardi explained. That data-driven logic extends to broadcast: MD took control of free-to-air channel NET TV in a deal worth up to $105 million, and daily ratings delivered at 10 a.m. determine whether a program is extended or changed.

"'Ivanna' was moderately accepted in Indonesia market, but it did fascinatingly well in Vietnam," Wienardi said. "It actually broke records in the theatrical Vietnamese market."

What travels and what doesn't

MD currently has eight titles on Netflix and three on WeTV, where seven of the platform's top 20 titles were MD productions, including "Layangan Putus," which trended in 25 countries.

Netflix drama "Ipar Adalah Maut" ("Brother-in-Law Is Death") topped the streamer's trending list in its first week and stayed in the top 10 for seven straight weeks. A second season is in the works and could launch on Netflix next year.

On Prime Video, mother-daughter series "Induk Gajah" ("Mother Elephant") earned a Season 2 order soon after its 2023 debut and helped pull in new subscribers. A deal with iQIYI, unveiled in mid-October, will see two titles roll out by December and a third in the first quarter of 2027.

Music feeds the pipeline too. Netflix series "Suara Hati," whose two lead actresses are dangdut singers (dangdut being Indonesia's popular Malay-Indian-influenced pop genre), generated 100,000 first-week downloads across Spotify and YouTube Music. "Bakti," a song from "Danyang: Mahar Tukar Nyawa," which opened Nov. 5, has passed 200,000 downloads on Spotify.

Why local identity is the strategy

"The golden rule for us is that the universal appeal should never mean stripping away local identity," Wienardi said. "Local identity is very important for MD. Without local identity, we lose the soul of the story."

She added that CEO Manoj Punjabi demands that soul at every greenlight meeting, and that MD wants folklore-rooted horror rather than "watered-down thrillers or any Hollywood-like thrillers."

Horror, MD's specialty for more than 20 years, crosses borders most easily, Wienardi said, at times reaching the U.S. and European markets. Drama is harder. "When it comes to drama, it's a bit different because then, you know, there's a lot of sayings in Indonesia that probably are not translated or culturally translated well," she said.

When an audience member asked how Indonesian films command around 65% of local moviegoing while Taiwanese films account for just 10%-12% at home, Wienardi cited Indonesia's population of roughly 280 million and a deep well of haunting folklore passed from parents to children. "We are surrounded by a lot of mountainous areas where the spiritual taboos are actually discussed on family dinners," she said.

What does this change for international partners?

The traffic already runs both ways. MD released adaptations of Thai and Korean properties this year, partnered with Korea's Barunson on "Sorop," and has fielded co-production inquiries from U.S. and European producers.

Wienardi said the studio sees strong potential in bringing Taiwanese and East Asian IP to Indonesia — but it wants pitches with proof of concept, a clear fit for Indonesian viewers and a track record in their home market. "When we're talking about NET TV, data is number one," she said.

NET TV's goal is a place in Indonesia's top five channels, with MD series simulcasting on the channel to widen its reach. Wienardi said she hopes MD will one day work with Taiwanese directors and producers and "share probably a common ground of storytelling."