Making a movie for the first time is daunting enough, and it doesn’t help that Baby Hero is up against two other local movies during the CNY period: Jack Neo’s sci-fi comedy I Want To Be Boss and Mark Lee’s drag comedy Number 2.
When asked if he’s worried about the box office, Weiliang is unexpectedly chill.
“I’m not too stressed over it. I made this movie to give the audience more options. It’s not meant to be a competition,” he says.
How many tickets does he need to sell to not suffer a loss though?
“That’s a good question. I can’t dodge it ‘cos if I say I don’t know, it would sound like I didn’t do my homework,” he laughs. “In Singapore, I think the movie would have to make S$4 – 5mil to be considered a success.”
Weiliang also says he did not intentionally set his movie’s premiere date (Jan 23) a day before Jack’s I Want To Be Boss premiere to give himself an edge.
“We set the date long ago. Maybe it’s because Director Neo is my mentor so great minds think alike,” he says.
Speaking of Jack being his mentor, did Weiliang go to the former for advice while making Baby Hero?
The answer is: No.
“I think our movies were filmed around the same time, so I didn’t dare to bother him. He was already busy with his own project, I shouldn’t let him worry about me too,” he explains.
While Weiliang admits that he doesn’t contact Jack much anymore, he stresses that they did not fall out.
“He’s my mentor no matter what. None of us Ah Boys would pick a fight with him,” he asserts.
He also says Jack sees all the Ah Boys as his children and would not hold anything against them.
There have also been rumours claiming that Weiliang has fallen out with the rest of the Ah Boys, including Tosh Zhang, Joshua Tan and Maxi Lim.
We also found out that Weiliang does not follow any of them on Instagram.
“Oh, I don’t use Instagram to make friends. I’m just a fan there and I only follow those whose content I watch. I also follow Lionel Messi but I don’t know him,” he says.
Weiliang adds that he is already friends with the Ah Boys and they can communicate in real life, which is why he doesn’t have to follow them on social media.
He admits that he and Joshua, who was the co-founder of Paperplane Productions, mutually agreed to stop their business partnership to “pursue different opportunities that better align with their long-term goals” but are still friends despite the latter’s departure from the company.
“How old are we already? Why would we fight? We are not children anymore,” he says.
He does, however, reveal that they did not ask him along on their trip to Japan last year.
“Maybe I was busy! When was it? They didn’t jio me, huh?” he chuckles.
Weiliang says he’s been busy with Baby Hero since last January, and that he doesn’t usually join them on their vacations anyway because he doesn’t enjoy travelling.
“I hate taking a plane. The seven-to-eight hours waiting at the airport and then flying to your destination, I can’t take it,” he says.
He also isn’t the kind to feel FOMO when his friends have fun overseas without him.
“If they’re happy, I’m happy for them too,” he insists.
How are the Ah Boys going to show support for Baby Hero then?
“I might have to force them to book a theatre for the movie. They haven’t offered to buy tickets yet. Maybe I should remind them to support my first movie,” he jokes.
Well, at least we did see both Tosh and Joshua at the movie’s premiere last week. That’s a good first step?