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Jubilation as ‘Pride of Malaysia’ Yeoh Wins First Oscar

Michelle Yeoh with her Oscar for Best Actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in the press room during the 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, 12 March 2023. (EPA)
Michelle Yeoh with her Oscar for Best Actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in the press room during the 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, 12 March 2023. (EPA)
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Jubilation as ‘Pride of Malaysia’ Yeoh Wins First Oscar

Michelle Yeoh with her Oscar for Best Actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in the press room during the 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, 12 March 2023. (EPA)
Michelle Yeoh with her Oscar for Best Actress for "Everything Everywhere All at Once" in the press room during the 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, 12 March 2023. (EPA)

Family and friends of Malaysia's Michelle Yeoh responded with screams, jubilation and pride on Monday at her winning the Academy Award for best lead actress, Asia's first ever winner in the category.

There were ecstatic roars and fist-pumps as her triumph was announced at an Oscars viewing party in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur, with all eyes on her surprised and delighted mother, Janet Yeoh.

"She's a very hardworking girl, you know. Everybody knows it," she told a news conference afterwards, in front of a poster of her daughter that said "Pride of Malaysia".

The actress's niece, Vicki Yeoh, looked equally stunned as the announcement was made, clutching her face and letting out a huge scream as the tears welled up.

"Jaw dropping moment ... I was speechless I cried, it happened so quickly and we are so happy that she won, that our auntie won," she said.

Yeoh, 60, won the award for her portrayal of a Chinese American laundromat owner Evelyn Wang, dealing with family turmoil in the science-fiction kung fu comedy "Everything Everywhere All at Once".

It was Yeoh's first Oscar nomination and she had been widely regarded as the front-runner.

Yeoh made her Hollywood breakthrough when she was cast as the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl in 1997's "Tomorrow Never Dies" opposite Pierce Brosnan. She has also starred in martial arts movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," the 2005 period drama "Memoirs of a Geisha" and the 2018 romantic comedy "Crazy Rich Asians".

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim lauded Yeoh's success and said her career was illustrious and exemplary and would continue to inspire Malaysians.

"In creating history by being not just the first Malaysian but the very first Asian actress to win in this category, we take enormous pride in her achievement, adding to a long list of successes and capping a critically acclaimed acting career spanning decades," Anwar said in a statement on his Facebook page.

Family friend Derrick Lee described her as an inspiration.

"The efforts that she put in for this film is extraordinary," he said at the party.

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Entertainment

‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ Make Gravity-Defying Theater Debuts

People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Wicked’ and ‘Gladiator’ Make Gravity-Defying Theater Debuts

People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)
People wait to watch a screening of the film "Wicked" at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 23, 2024. (Reuters)

With a combined $270 million in worldwide ticket sales, “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” breathed fresh life into a box office that has struggled lately, leading to one of the busiest moviegoing weekends of the year.

Jon M. Chu’s lavish big-budget musical “Wicked,” starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, debuted with $114 million domestically and $164.2 million globally for Universal Pictures, according to studio estimates Sunday. That made it the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind only “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2.” It’s also a record for a Broadway musical adaptation.

Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator II,” a sequel to his 2000 best picture-winning original, launched with $55.5 million in ticket sales. With a price tag of around $250 million to produce it, “Gladiator II” was a big bet by Paramount Pictures to return to the Coliseum with a largely new cast, led by Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal. While it opened with a touch less than the $60 million predicted in domestic ticket sales, “Gladiator II” has performed well overseas. It added $50.5 million internationally.

Going into the weekend, box office was down about 11% from last year and some 25% from pre-pandemic times. That meant this week's two headline films led a much-needed resurgence for theaters. With “Moana 2” releasing Wednesday, Hollywood might be looking at historic sales over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“This weekend’s two strong openers are invigorating a box office that fell apart after a good summer,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

The collision of the two movies led to some echoes of the “Barbenheimer” effect of last year, when “Barbie" and “Oppenheimer” launched simultaneously. The nickname this time, “Glicked,” wasn’t quite as catchy and the cultural imprint was also notably less. Few people sought out a double feature this time. The domestic grosses in 2023 – $162 million for “Barbie” and $82 million for “Oppenheimer” – were also higher.

But the counter-programming effect was still potent for “Wicked” and “Gladiator II,” which likewise split broadly along gender lines. And it was again the female-leaning release – “Wicked,” like “Barbie” before it – that easily won the weekend. About 72% of ticket buyers for “Wicked” were female, while 61% of those seeing “Gladiator II” were male.

And while “Barbenheimer” benefitted enormously from meme-spread word-of-mouth, both “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” leaned on all-out marketing blitzes.

Both movies pulled out all the stops in global advertising campaigns that spanned everything from “Wicked” Mattel dolls (some of which led to an awkward recall) to an Airbnb cross-promotion with the actual Colosseum in Rome. For “Gladiator II,” Paramount even took the unusual step of simultaneously running a one-minute trailer on more than 4,000 TV networks, radio station and digital platforms.

Though “Wicked” will face some direct competition from “Moana 2,” it would seem to be better set up for a long and lucrative run in theaters. Even at 2 hours and 40 minutes, the film has had mostly stellar reviews. Audiences gave it an “A” on CinemaScore. The reception for “Wicked” has been strong enough that Oscar prognosticators expect it to be a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, among other categories.

Producers, perhaps sensing a hit, also took the step of splitting “Wicked” in two. Part two, already filmed, is due out next November. Each “Wicked” installation cost around $150 million to make.

“Gladiator II” has also enjoyed good reviews, particularly for Washington's charismatic performance. Audience scores, though, were weaker, with ticket buyers giving it a “B” on CinemaScore. “Gladiator II” will make up for some of that, however, with robust international sales. It launched in many overseas markets a week ago, earning $87 million before landing in North America.