KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — Local animated film, Mechamato Movie by Animonsta Studio (Monsta) has collected RM18.3 million in 11 days of showing in Malaysia and Brunei.

Since its opening on December 8, the Mechamato Movie has also managed to sneak in the top 10 global weekend box-office takings at number nine just below South Korean thriller film, The Owl, according to box office insights portal, comscore.

Following its success, the director and writer Nizam Abd Razak via Twitter, thanked the 1.28 million moviegoers who have watched the film.

He’s also optimistic that it won’t be the final numbers as he believes there are still those who haven’t watched the film as they’re waiting for payday in upcoming weeks.

In another thread, he said making the global weekend box-office top 10 is just a beginning point for the studio.

He said that they were actually planning to release the film on an earlier date as they were not looking to go head to head with James Cameroon’s Avatar: The Way of Water at the box office.

"Initially, when applying for the Mandatory Screening Scheme (with Finas), the screening date for Mechamato Movie was supposed to be December 1 (two weeks before Avatar), however the slots were already full. All that’s left is December 8.

"Looking at the positive side of things, this could be a test for us to compete using business strategies and a way to train us to break into international markets as we will not be receiving any insurances when it comes to the overseas market.

"To be included in the top 10 global box office this time around might just be the beginning of something big for us in the future. InsyaAllah,” Nizam wrote.

Mechamato Movie collected RM10 million after just six days, though it failed to top this year’s highest grossing local film in Shamsul Yusof’s Mat Kilau.

By Day 11, Mat Kilau had managed to rake in RM47 million in ticket sales across Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.

Nizam previously told The Star that the studio is looking to release the film in the overseas market next year.

The film has the potential to be a success overseas thanks to the popularity of Mechamato: The Animated Series, which have been aired in 65 countries worldwide including Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Nizam added that the studio is currently fortifying their strategies before exporting the film for an international market.

Mechamato Movie is still showing in cinemas across Malaysia and Brunei.