The Malaysian-made animated film Papa Zola The Movie is set to make its global debut in early 2026, with premieres scheduled across Southeast Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. It follows the explosive success of the film in its home country, having earned over RM43 million in its first 18 days of release.
The film will make its overseas debut in Indonesia this January 23, followed by Saudi Arabia in April, before moving onto Bahrain, Oman, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey, and India in May. According to the film’s creators at MONSTA, Papa Zola The Movie will be dubbed into English, Arabic, Turkish, Vietnamese, Hindi, and Tamil in order to accommodate a global audience.
Papa Zola The Movie tells the story of Papa Zola, a hardworking father who takes on multiple part-time jobs to support his family. At the same time, Papa and his wife Mama Zila are also members of the top-secret Protect and Prevent Agency (aka PAPA!) which protects Earth from invading aliens. When their daughter Pipi is kidnapped by aliens, Papa and Mama unite to save their daughter and the world.
Beyond its box office performance, the film has been praised for its emotionally driven narrative, which highlights the struggles of everyday life, the bonds of family and the universal challenges of fatherhood. MD Pictures chief marketing officer Rivki Morais shared, “It’s grounded in real-life struggles that every parent and family can relate to, making it highly marketable across cultures.”
