Malaysia's First AI Film for Theatrical Release? Siluman: Dendam Harimau Jadian Aims to Set 'Malaysia Record

KUALA LUMPUR, 26 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Malaysia's first artificial intelligence-driven feature film for theatrical release, "Siluman: Dendam Harimau Jadian," held its exclusive screening at TGV KLCC on Thursday, marking a milestone in the country's cinema industry and signalling a new production paradigm for local content creators.

The screening brought together cast members and media to showcase what the producers describe as a hybrid approach that combines live-action performance with generative AI tools rather than replacing human actors with synthetic ones.

Singer and actor Chubb-E, whose real name is Muhammad Sharul Ashlyn Awang Ashrul Affandy, 27, stars in the film alongside Cat Farish and Dboy Hamdan. Speaking to reporters at the KLCC screening, Chubb-E said the production was structured to protect performers' rights and demonstrate that AI can assist rather than supplant the acting profession. "I joined this project because the production side wanted to highlight actors' rights, not use AI entirely," he said.

"They want to show this technology can help the cast and not take over their roles completely. That is why this project is actually hybrid in nature. We really acted out those scenes ourselves and there is a combination of artificial intelligence technology use."

The weretiger revenge thriller serves as a proof-of-concept for ILM's end-to-end AI production pipeline, which the company says compresses the traditional development, pre-production, principal photography, post-production and delivery cycle into a single sub-annual timeline.

While the source did not disclose the system's technical architecture, budget or computational requirements, the claim of a concept-to-screen window of less than twelve months would represent a significant acceleration compared with conventional Malaysian feature film schedules, which typically span eighteen to twenty-four months for comparable genre titles.

Chubb-E framed the experiment as a necessary first step for an industry confronting rapid technological change. "In my view, people accept it or not, just face it. Humans are like that. Whatever we do, there are those who like it and those who don't," he said. "What is important to me is that this is a new technology.

However it turns out, there must be someone who starts and tries this technology." He added that he does not fear AI's advance and believes the actor's craft will endure even if AI tools become widespread in future productions.

The hybrid methodology described by Chubb-E suggests that principal photography proceeded with conventional on-set performance capture, after which AI tools were applied to augment, extend or transform the recorded material. The source did not specify which stages — visual effects, environment generation, character de-aging, crowd replication or dialogue replacement — employed the ILM system, nor did it quantify the proportion of screen time derived from AI-assisted processes versus straight photography.

Lil Studios and ILM have not released commercial projections, distribution partners beyond the TGV circuit, or international sales plans for "Siluman: Dendam Harimau Jadian." The film's folklore premise — a weretiger narrative rooted in Malay mythology — positions it within a horror-fantasy vein that has historically performed well in the domestic box office, though the source provided no comparator titles or opening-weekend targets.

Malaysia's film regulator, the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS), and the Communications and Digital Ministry have not issued public guidance on AI-generated or AI-assisted content certification, classification or intellectual property ownership. The source did not indicate whether "Siluman: Dendam Harimau Jadian" underwent any special regulatory review beyond the standard censorship board process required for all theatrical releases.

The screening marks the first public exhibition of ILM's production system output. The company has not announced a roadmap for licensing the pipeline to third-party producers, offering it as a service, or deploying it on subsequent Lil Studios slates.

Chubb-E's participation, alongside established names Cat Farish and Dboy Hamdan, signals a willingness among mainstream Malaysian talent to engage with AI-augmented workflows at a time when performers' unions globally are negotiating consent, compensation and credit frameworks for synthetic media use.