Homegrown film That One No Enough has yet to break even at the box office more than three weeks after it opened on May 13.

According to the distributor, the current box-office takings of the $900,000 movie total about $1.2 million here and RM520,000 (S$234,000) in Malaysia, where the movie was released simultaneously.

Ms Erlina Suharjono, Cathay's vice-president of entertainment, said this tally was still some way off from the break-even figure, which insiders from the industry estimate to be about three to four times the production cost of the movie.

Crossing the $1-million mark, however, has been an encouraging sign in a soft market this year, Ms Suharjono added.

"Since the beginning of this year, the cinema industry has seen a decline of between 25 and 30 per cent in admissions. For a local film to surpass the $1-million mark is not easy," she said.

Regulars in the movie circuit such as Mr Kenneth Tan, chairman of the Singapore Film Society, also attributed the lacklustre performance of the release to slow business for cinema operators.

He said: "On the macro level, the cinema business is not doing well, and many homegrown productions this year have not fared well. Where Got Problem had rather poor results while Liang Po Po - The Movie made only a small profit."

Mr Tan, who said he had enjoyed That One No Enough, also cited the identical subject matter in the spate of made-in-Singapore works as another reason for its unsatisfactory showing.

The audience might be tired of the slice-of-life, coffeeshop-talk type of storyline. It is a problem of too many homegrown films with similar subject matter in too short a time."

Describing the spate of productions here as "an overkill", Mr Philip Cheah, the Singapore International Film Festival director, viewed the waning of interest in homemade productions in a positive light.

"I'm glad that the bubble has burst. This will send a clear signal to the movie-making industry here that the audience is becoming more cynical so there is a bigger challenge in terms of story-telling and content," he said.

That One No Enough is likely to end its run here in two weeks' time, and Cathay organisation is hoping to recoup its costs from ancillary sales such as VCDs and box office takings elsewhere.

It opens in Taiwan on Sunday.

But even as the movie helmed by Jack Neo and his popular Comedy Night comrades has failed to sizzle at the box office, another Singapore movie will be making its way to the big screens on July 8.

Produced by Raintree Pictures, the same company behind Liang Po Po - The Movie, The Truth About Jane And Sam stars Caldecott Hill princess Fann Wong. Mr Daniel Yun, the company's chief executive officer, expressed optimism about the $1.3-million project, which he described as "a local version of Shakespeare In Love" that bore no resemblance to other domestic output.

"In terms of characterisation and genre, this is a very different film with a focus on storytelling. It is also a good showcase of collaboration with foreign expertise," he said.

Helmed by famous Hongkong director Derek Yee, the movie also stars Taiwanese actor Peter Ho and was shot in Singapore, China and Hongkong.

Fann plays a streetwise Hongkong-born girl from a dysfunctional family, who is inspired by her relationship with a Singaporean journalist (portrayed by Ho) to shed her tough image.

Competition from Hollywood films such as Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and the Pretty Woman sequel, Runaway Bride, which will be released around the same time, did not bother Mr Yun.

"I'm not at all afraid. Different film genres have different appeal," he said confidently.

Television trailers and movie posters are only the beginning of the publicity blitz for the movie, he added.

Joint promotions with retail brands, magazines and radio stations will be rolled out shortly.

Fann and Ho will also be staging a one-night concert at Sparks disco early next month.

The movie is also set to travel. It will open in Hongkong on July 15 and Malaysia, China and Taiwan thereafter.

There are also plans to enter the movie for the Shanghai Film Festival in September and others in Europe, Mr Yun revealed.

"We are not just looking at Singapore to recoup our costs," he said.