According to Najwa Abu Bakar, the head of producer Astro Shaw, there has been increasing acceptance of Southeast Asian languages with international audiences in the last five years.

“We think this adds to the uniqueness of our films,” she said in an interview with Forbes.

“As with Astro Shaw’s other films that have traveled outside Malaysia, we will provide English subtitles and where required dubbed tracks in various languages.”

The action-thriller feature film is an adaptation of “Tombiruo”, a novel by Malaysian author Ramlee Awang Murshid, and tells the story of Tombiruo, a man ostracised because of his deformity, which he hides beneath a mask.

The film, produced by Malaysian entertainment conglomerate Astro Shaw, Ideate Media, the country’s largest publisher Grup Buku Karangkraf, and Layar Sunan, will see Tombiruo eventually realising his destiny to protect others and the jungle as the spirit of the jungle.

Now shooting, the film is co-directed by Malaysia’s Nasir Jani, whose credits include “Kembara Seniman Jalanan” and “Rozana Cinta 87”, and Australian Seth Larney.

This will be Larney’s feature directing debut after working in visual effects on many movies including the second and third The Matrix movies, “Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith”, and “Superman Returns”, as well as directing behind-the-scenes footage for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, “The Lego Movie: Piece de Resistance” and “The Guardians of Ga’Hoole.”

Visual effects will be handled by Hollywood-based VFX house 42 Entertainment.