ThaiMovie : The Trail of Ong Bak and Tom Yam Goong
First it was Somrak Khamsing, then Paradorn Srichaphan, and now comes the turn of movie idol Tony Jaa. All share one thing in common: their fame has helped boost world recognition of Thailand .
Somrak Khamsing became the first Thai boxer to grab an Olympic gold medal a decade ago, while tennis-player Paradorn Srichaphan hit the headlines when he entered the world's top twenty rankings a few years ago. Tony Jaa has also turned the world's attention to Thailand with his authentic martial arts in his first leading role, Ong Bak: the Thai Warrior .
Last week, Tony Jaa was appointed a Cultural Diplomat by the Culture Ministry, following the Sports Diplomat role previously given to Paradorn. If the Culture Ministry had existed at the time of Somrak Khamsing's great Olympic victory, no doubt some ‘diplomatic' role would have been found for him too.
In the same week, deputy prime-minister Suwat Liptaphallop also chaired an award presentation and party for the production team of Ong Bak after the film's successful release in the US last month.
Shot in 2002, Ong Bak firstly quietly caught the outside world's attention with the visit of a Hong Kong producer. He was surprised by the authentic action style that used no wires or special effects, in stark contrast to Hollywood action flicks. One year later, the film became a domestic smash taking a staggering US$2.75 million. It remained 2003's top grosser for several months until overtaken by the nostalgic sentiment of My Girl in October.
Ong Bak 's international journey was triggered by the sale of the film to French distributor EuroCorp, owned by the world-famous director Luc Besson. In the first week of release in France in April 2004 it opened in the fifth spot in the charts, selling 440,495 tickets on just 281 screens. Twenty screens were immediately added.
Quoted in Screen Daily on 16 April 2004 , EuropaCorp's head of marketing remarked that Besson felt that “as such a big discovery the film needed someone known to act as a sort of godfather.” Unsurprisingly, having Luc Besson as his ‘godfather' has boosted Tony Jaa's international profile no end.
Ong Bak and Tony Jaa have since jetted into cinemas in Hong Kong, South Korea, Dubai, France, Poland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, Germany, Spain and more. Such numerous trips affected the production of sequel Tom Yam Goong : originally planned to finish in early 2005, it is still delayed to this day.
Thus when Ong Bak reached the world's movie capital, the US, it inevitably caused a sensation, further elevating the homeland's national pride. Four days after its first release on 10 February 2005 , the film had earned $1,334,869 from 387 theatres. After one month, the total gross reached US$ 4,014,412 – almost half of the film's worldwide takings. According to sources in the US-Thai community, during the release the US-based search engine yahoo.com reported that searches for Ong Bak information increased by an incredible 1135%. At the same time, Tony Jaa was reported by Thai newspapers to have received warm welcomes from such big names as the rapper RZA. Indie idol Quentin Tarantino left him a special message and suggested a future collaboration. Even Tom Cruise showed interest by asking for a personal copy of the movie to watch at home.
This success has opened the international doors wider than ever. Ong Bak is currently on release in Australia and shortly scheduled to arrive in countries including New Zealand, the UK, the Philippines, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Turkey.
While the first film is still on tour around the world, Tom Yam Goong is on the verge of a premiere at Cannes, probably in the market. Right now the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, whose chairman is also the owner of Sahamongkol Film International and the producer of both films, is busy preparing a team of 100-200 people to invade Cannes in May in support of the film. Although Tropical Malady was selected as the first Thai official competition entry last year, this year no Thai films have been invited as yet. Thus, unfortunately, no other Thai films will benefit from the high-profile promotional campaign for Tom Yam Goong .
Tom Yam Goong is confidently anticipated to be on the brink of smash success. The producers will use several tactics to push the film to an even wider audience. Thai pop singer Tata Young, Asia 's darling in recent times, has been approached to sing the movie's theme song. It is also expected that the film will have a simultaneous worldwide release on 12 August. Oh, and that's not all. Even a tie-in computer game has been prepared for release. By the time the movie is released, “Tony Jaa's Tom-Yam-Goong: The Game” might already be in your computer.
Though some might dispute whether they really belong in the top ranks of world cinema, Ong Bak and Tom Yam Goong are good examples of how world-renowned, authentic Thai food and martial arts are being smartly exploited to improve Thailand 's standing in the cinematic world.
Somrak Khamsing became the first Thai boxer to grab an Olympic gold medal a decade ago, while tennis-player Paradorn Srichaphan hit the headlines when he entered the world's top twenty rankings a few years ago. Tony Jaa has also turned the world's attention to Thailand with his authentic martial arts in his first leading role, Ong Bak: the Thai Warrior .
Last week, Tony Jaa was appointed a Cultural Diplomat by the Culture Ministry, following the Sports Diplomat role previously given to Paradorn. If the Culture Ministry had existed at the time of Somrak Khamsing's great Olympic victory, no doubt some ‘diplomatic' role would have been found for him too.
In the same week, deputy prime-minister Suwat Liptaphallop also chaired an award presentation and party for the production team of Ong Bak after the film's successful release in the US last month.
Shot in 2002, Ong Bak firstly quietly caught the outside world's attention with the visit of a Hong Kong producer. He was surprised by the authentic action style that used no wires or special effects, in stark contrast to Hollywood action flicks. One year later, the film became a domestic smash taking a staggering US$2.75 million. It remained 2003's top grosser for several months until overtaken by the nostalgic sentiment of My Girl in October.
Ong Bak 's international journey was triggered by the sale of the film to French distributor EuroCorp, owned by the world-famous director Luc Besson. In the first week of release in France in April 2004 it opened in the fifth spot in the charts, selling 440,495 tickets on just 281 screens. Twenty screens were immediately added.
Quoted in Screen Daily on 16 April 2004 , EuropaCorp's head of marketing remarked that Besson felt that “as such a big discovery the film needed someone known to act as a sort of godfather.” Unsurprisingly, having Luc Besson as his ‘godfather' has boosted Tony Jaa's international profile no end.
Ong Bak and Tony Jaa have since jetted into cinemas in Hong Kong, South Korea, Dubai, France, Poland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Austria, Germany, Spain and more. Such numerous trips affected the production of sequel Tom Yam Goong : originally planned to finish in early 2005, it is still delayed to this day.
Thus when Ong Bak reached the world's movie capital, the US, it inevitably caused a sensation, further elevating the homeland's national pride. Four days after its first release on 10 February 2005 , the film had earned $1,334,869 from 387 theatres. After one month, the total gross reached US$ 4,014,412 – almost half of the film's worldwide takings. According to sources in the US-Thai community, during the release the US-based search engine yahoo.com reported that searches for Ong Bak information increased by an incredible 1135%. At the same time, Tony Jaa was reported by Thai newspapers to have received warm welcomes from such big names as the rapper RZA. Indie idol Quentin Tarantino left him a special message and suggested a future collaboration. Even Tom Cruise showed interest by asking for a personal copy of the movie to watch at home.
This success has opened the international doors wider than ever. Ong Bak is currently on release in Australia and shortly scheduled to arrive in countries including New Zealand, the UK, the Philippines, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Greece, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Turkey.
While the first film is still on tour around the world, Tom Yam Goong is on the verge of a premiere at Cannes, probably in the market. Right now the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand, whose chairman is also the owner of Sahamongkol Film International and the producer of both films, is busy preparing a team of 100-200 people to invade Cannes in May in support of the film. Although Tropical Malady was selected as the first Thai official competition entry last year, this year no Thai films have been invited as yet. Thus, unfortunately, no other Thai films will benefit from the high-profile promotional campaign for Tom Yam Goong .
Tom Yam Goong is confidently anticipated to be on the brink of smash success. The producers will use several tactics to push the film to an even wider audience. Thai pop singer Tata Young, Asia 's darling in recent times, has been approached to sing the movie's theme song. It is also expected that the film will have a simultaneous worldwide release on 12 August. Oh, and that's not all. Even a tie-in computer game has been prepared for release. By the time the movie is released, “Tony Jaa's Tom-Yam-Goong: The Game” might already be in your computer.
Though some might dispute whether they really belong in the top ranks of world cinema, Ong Bak and Tom Yam Goong are good examples of how world-renowned, authentic Thai food and martial arts are being smartly exploited to improve Thailand 's standing in the cinematic world.
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