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BANGKOK - When Nicolas Cage's new movie "Bangkok Dangerous" hits the big screen later this year, he'll be starring in the first Thai film to undergo a Hollywood makeover.
It's a milestone for Thailand's film industry, and has boosted the hopes of local filmmakers who hope to sell more overseas studios on their work during the Bangkok International Film Festival, which opens Thursday night.
"Before, only movies from Hong Kong, Korea and Japan were sold for remakes. Now it's Bangkok's turn," Apriaradee Iamphungphun, executive director of Five Star Production Co, told AFP.
"Remakes are another step forward for Thai films in the international market. It involves not only sales income but intellectual property rights," she said.
"Bangkok Dangerous" is a remake of a 1999 gangster thriller directed by the Hong Kong-born brothers Danny and Oxide Pang. Oscar-winner Cage plays a hitman who falls for a Thai woman and gives up his life of crime.
The movie, tentatively scheduled for a September release, was shot entirely in Thailand on a budget of about 400 million baht (11.7 million dollars).
Rights to remake Five Star's "6ixtynin9" (Talok Hok Kao) -- a thriller by acclaimed Thai director Pen-ake Ratanareung -- has also been sold for millions of dollars, Apriaradee said, with talks underway on three or four other titles.
An American remake of the Thai horror film "Shutter" is already being shot in Japan and is expected to go to Western audiences next year, studio GMM Thai Hub said.
The studio made one million dollars selling the rights to remake that movie, and has already signed a similar deal for another horror film, "Alone," expected to go into production next year, said Yongyuth Thongkongtoon, head of the company's international department.
For Thai directors, that kind of money could finance a new project, or in some cases recover costs if their films fail to attract local audiences.
It's not just American studios interested in Thai films. A Korean company is remaking the Thai drama "Me Myself," the story of a gay man who fell in love with a woman after losing his memory in a car accident.
Most of the Hollywood interest is in Thai action or horror movies, which are the only ones so far to have made ripples at the American box office in their original versions.
Martial arts flick "Tom Yum Goong" has earned 50 million dollars overseas, helped by some American star appeal because it was released in the United States under the title "Quentin Tarantino Presents The Protector".
That success helped the movie's studio, Sahamongkol Film, to find an American distributor for another martial arts flick "Ong Bak" and horror film "The Thirteen".
"The prospects for Thai films in the overseas market are quite strong, including the possibility for remakes," said Gilbert Lim, Sahamongkol's vice president for acquisition and sales.
Yongyuth concurs, saying: "We are selling the uniqueness and good quality of Thai films."
Director Chalerm Wongpim said that at best one in five Thai films could have a shot at overseas success, either through a remake or an international release.
"But at least overseas sales can generate more income for movies when local ticket sales were not enough to cover the budget," he said.
Chalerm's Khon Fire Bin ("Dynamite Warrior") has screened in five overseas markets after New York-based Magnolia Pictures snapped up the distribution license for the martial arts-cowboy flick. - AFP/ra
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