DIRECTOR Royston Tan's tearjerker 12 Lotus has grossed just $983,000 - a far cry from the $3.5 million his earlier film, the getai-inspired 881, earned last year.

This means that the $1.3-million 12 Lotus, a joint venture between Raintree MediaCorp Pictures and Tan's production company 10twentyeight, has made a loss. Industry wisdom dictates that a movie has to make three times its production cost to break even.

Tan, however, is optimistic. He told Life! that he is 'very happy' with 12 Lotus' takings and that the revenues of the two films should not be compared.