Anyone who lived in Indonesia in the ‘80s and ‘90s is familiar with the comedy trio of Dono, Kasino, and Indro (DKI), whose brand of slapstick and adult humor made them arguably the most famous Indonesian comedy team of their time, with countless films and TV shows to their name.
Even though Indro is the only remaining living member of the group, their legacy not only lives on, it is thriving. On September 8, their franchise was rebooted with the release of ‘Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss Part 1’, this time starring contemporary actors Vino Bastian, Tora Sudiro, and Abimana Aryasatya in the titular roles.
Just 12 days after the film’s release, it was reported that ‘Warkop DKI’ smashed box office records to become the most watched Indonesian film in theaters with 4,687,000 viewers. It broke the 8-year standing record of ‘Laskar Pelangi’, which was watched by 4,631,841 viewers during its theatrical run.
“I’m so happy that ‘Warkop DKI Reborn’ became the most watched film. This can create a momentum for the rise of Indonesian films,” said Vino Bastian, who portrays Kasino, as quoted by Kompas yesterday.
2016 has been a fantastic year for Indonesian films in terms of box office draw. In addition to ‘Warkop DKI Reborn’, two other movies, ‘Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 2’ and ‘My Stupid Boss’ surpassed the 3 million viewers mark this year. 21 Cineplex, Indonesia’s largest cinema chain, say that they’ve sold more tickets to Indonesian films this year than any of the the last 6 years.
The Indonesian Museum of Records previously recognized ‘Warkop DKI Reborn’ for having the most viewers for an Indonesian film during its first day of release (270,000) and the most viewers for an Indonesian film in one day (556,000). Given that it’s only been in cinemas for a short period of time, we’re excited to see the benchmark ‘Warkop DKI Reborn’ will set during its theatrical run.
