Indonesian horror has spent recent years proving that a ghost story steeped in village taboos can fill cinemas far beyond Java. MD Entertainment, the studio behind several of the country’s biggest scares, is now turning that proof into a pipeline: a sequel to its factory-set chiller Pabrik Gula, released in English as Sugar Mill, plus a slate of films made for Imax, a premium format in which no Southeast Asian film had been shot until MD did it.

As Variety reported, the plans were laid out by Astrid Wienardi, MD’s head of content licensing and global business, during a presentation at Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF) in Taipei. Pabrik Gula sold more than five million tickets at home before travelling to Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the U.S. and Europe, and Wienardi said its hooks and popularity persuaded the studio to commit to a second installment.

The 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, directed like Pabrik Gula by Awi Suryadi, sold 10.7 million tickets in Indonesia, a national record at the time. One of the upcoming Imax titles will adapt Dhot Design, a YouTube animated series about four friends that pulls between 8 million and 10 million views an episode.

Wienardi framed the strategy around identity. “The golden rule for us is that the universal appeal should never mean stripping away local identity,” she said. “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.” Asked why Indonesian films command around 65% of local moviegoing, she pointed to a population of roughly 280 million and to folklore passed from parents to children, in a country where “the spiritual taboos are actually discussed on family dinners.”

The Pabrik Gula sequel is due in early 2028, while the Imax films are planned for 2027, a year in which MD expects 12 to 13 releases led by horror alongside comedy and drama. Before that, Ivanna 2, the follow-up to a spinoff from MD’s Danur horror universe, arrives early next year; Wienardi noted that the original “did fascinatingly well in Vietnam.” The company, which counts Lionsgate and CJ among its strategic partners, has also taken control of free-to-air channel NET TV in a deal worth up to $105 million and brought in investment from Korea’s SBS.

The pipeline already runs through streaming too: Netflix drama Ipar Adalah Maut, which Wienardi translates as “Brother-in-Law Is Death,” stayed in the streamer’s top 10 for seven straight weeks, and a second season is in the works. Horror, she said, is the genre that crosses borders most easily, while drama trips over “a lot of sayings in Indonesia that probably are not translated.” MD’s bet is that a haunted sugar factory needs no translation at all, only a bigger screen.

Tags: IMAX, sequel, Indonesian horror, KKN di Desa Penari, MD Entertainment, Pabrik Gula