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New potential box-office hit arises after Habibie’s passing
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The eldest son of Indonesia's third president BJ Habibie, Ilham Akbar Habibie, coordinates with his brother Thareq Kemal Habibie while accompanying their father's coffin as it is moved from the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital (RSPAD) in Jakarta on Sept. 11. JP/Dhoni Setiawan (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
I
ndonesians still mourn the recent death of Indonesia’s third president, Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, despite his past controversies as one of the most important figures during the dictatorial New Order regime.
Habibie, in the last decade, has become something of a pop culture icon, a massive shift from his technocratic persona as the research and technology minister under authoritarian ruler Soeharto. Contemporary Indonesians see him as a loyal husband who stayed on the deathbed of his wife, Ainun, during her last days of battling cancer.
A photo of Habibie kissing Ainun as she laid dying mellowed almost an entire nation, whose main source of prime-time entertainment is already cheesy romantic soap operas, and has inspired movie productions known as the Habibie-Ainun Universe saga with Habibie & Ainun in 2012 and Rudy Habibie in 2016, both produced my MD Pictures.
Following Habibie’s death, MD Pictures did not take long to announce another potentially lucrative box office movie as the third and, probably, the last installment of the saga: Habibie & Ainun 3.
Having drawn more than 4 million moviegoers with Habibie & Ainun and over 2 million with Rudy Habibie, MD Pictures surely hopes the third installment of the saga will be a big hit in theaters as well. It is set to have its public screening in December, just three months after Habibie’s passing in September.
“For me, [Habibie & Ainun 3] is more than just a movie, because this means everything to Pak Habibie, and I hope it will become his legacy,” MD Pictures CEO Manoj Punjabi said during the release of the movie trailer in Jakarta recently.
Manoj noted the involvement of Habibie himself in the production of the film and how he had been eager to make the story as detailed as possible to capture the memories of him and Ainun.
