' King Naresuan ' Movie Shatters Box-office Record

[sriracha john]

'King Naresuan' shatters Record

"The Legend of King Naresuan" has set a new Thai box-office record, raking in Bt120 million in four days. (including 240 baht from sriracha john)

The film is tipped to be an all-time blockbuster.

Distributor Sahamongkol Film said the first in the Naresuan trilogy broke the previous record held by action film "Tom Yum Goong", which starred Phanom "Tony Jaa" Yerum, which took in Bt90 million in four days.

MC Chatrichalerm Yukol's historical epic is expected to follow the success of his 2001 "Suriyothai". That film remains the country's No-1 all time best-seller, with revenues of about Bt400 million.

At the time, "Suriyothai" set a new record of Bt75 million for its first four days.

An industry source said the first of the Naresuan trilogy could have dragged in even more if producers had printed extra copies.

Another factor against the film is its three-hour running time - limiting the number of sessions a cinema can screen.

"Only a quarter of the planned 260 copies were available during the first three days, and all prints were finished on Sunday only," said Sahamongkol distribution executive Chomsajee Techaratanaprasert.

The second episode will premiere on February 15, with the final one scheduled for December 5.

It is Thailand's most expensive film production to date, costing Bt700 million for all three.

Distributors of Hollywood films have avoided competing with the local epic. Golden Globe winner "Babel" and "The Queen" will be released on February 22 and March 8.

The second Naresuan will have to compete with the films "Charlotte's Web"; "The Queen"; and "I'm Cyborg but That's Okay", with South Korean heart-throb Rain in his acting debut.

- The Nation

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'King Naresuan' movie

Two Thumbs Up.... Way UP!

Bangkok Herald-Examiner Film Critic

Edited January 22, 2007 by sriracha john

[farangsay]

Some years ago saw the Thai remake of "The King and I'

in Belgium of all places. Yours truly and the TGF of the epoch

enjoyed it thoroughly.

I've heard about this one and look forward to seeing it.

Thailand has a rich and colourful history and it is great

that they can turn that into watchable films.

You can compete with Hollywood if you build the

cinematic skills and you have a history which

goes back more than 400 years.

[bina]

suriyothai:

thai husband and family in korat watched for twenty minutes and then politely told me that it was boooooringgggggggg!!!!!!!!!!

necromancer; and other ghost type films were played over and over.....

my 19yr old in house movie critic (film major in school) hated it as well; said it was too hollywood. she preferred the thai ghost movies and nang nak etc. (she reads the eng. subtitles; my other kids can read english dont speak thai but preferred the thai only ghost movies too.... nang nak bored them (13-17 age group) (typical kibbutz kids they loved the ghost ghoul gory stuff, much better then the israeli movies )

so who is actually watching these long historical movies??

Edited January 22, 2007 by bina

[sriracha john]

Apparently everyone is watching this one, bina. The cinema we went to was jam-packed and we had to buy tickets to not the next showing, but the showing AFTER that, to get decent seating. Never had to do that before for any movie here. Also, they were running it exclusively at the cineplex we saw it at. All four cinemas had it.

Brief synopsis, with available cinemas and their showtimes:

http://www.movieseer.com/movieProfileBil.a...7&Channel=2

Official website:

http://www.kingnaresuanmovie.com/index_thai.php

They spent three years in the making of this film.

Edited January 22, 2007 by sriracha john

[Khleerm]

A trilogy no less?! Wow! I can't wait....

[ColPyat]

suriyothai:

thai husband and family in korat watched for twenty minutes and then politely told me that it was boooooringgggggggg!!!!!!!!!!

necromancer; and other ghost type films were played over and over.....

my 19yr old in house movie critic (film major in school) hated it as well; said it was too hollywood. she preferred the thai ghost movies and nang nak etc. (she reads the eng. subtitles; my other kids can read english dont speak thai but preferred the thai only ghost movies too.... nang nak bored them (13-17 age group) (typical kibbutz kids they loved the ghost ghoul gory stuff, much better then the israeli movies )

so who is actually watching these long historical movies??

After having painfully struggled through Suryothai i will give this one definately a miss.

Even the wife could not understand much as it was in Royal Thai, and her educational level did not exactly reach that. And don't start me off on the lousy acting, unrealistic make up and costumes, boring directing, lousy camera...

I loved Nang Nak though, and have it on DVD. Excellent cinematography, brilliant score as well.

Edited January 22, 2007 by ColPyat

[sriracha john]

was that a movie review of a movie you've not seen?

or was that a movie review of a different movie?

either way... well done.

[jbowman1993]

Well, I did see it, and I have to say, I enjoyed it a great deal. (Much more than Suriyothai). The acting was excellent, as was the story, costumes, etc.

I give it 3 out of four stars on an international standard, 4 out of 4 for movies produced in Thailand. Its well worth the money, imo...

EGV Gold Class - best way to see a flick here in Thailand.

[chownah]

Do you think that the movie industry's PR about how many people attend movies can be trusted?....in Thailand?.....really?

Chownah

[Heng]

Pretty good, if a bit drawn out. Didn't care much for the continuity error in having Phra Naresuan's sister age 20+ years while he and his temple friends stayed the same age - most likely to avoid outcry over the Burmese royal taking on a 16 year old consort as was probably more closer to the truth historically. Still should have picked someone in their early 20's instead of early 30's to play the part.

[sriracha john]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this Mon royalty, not Burmese? One of the signs of a good movie to me is that it spurs an interest to seek further information once the movie is over.

Hongsawadee, where a lot of the movie takes place:

Mon National Day commemorates the inception of the Mon kingdom, Hongsawadee, founded in 574 A.D by two brothers, Samala and Vimala, in what is now called Pegu.

The fall of Mon Kingdom to the Burmans in 1757 not only marked the end of the once flourishing Mon kingdom but of all administrative and political powers

as well.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/reg.burma/archi...2/msg00277.html

A further look up of Pegu to find out where this is today reveals:

Bago, formerly Pegu, is a city and the capital of Bago Division in Myanmar.

*along with an accompanying map showing its location*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegu

The journey from here to Ayuthaya to be depicted in the 2nd installment should be a good one.

btw, I agree with the flawed miscasting of the sister.

A good actress, but mismatched to her brother in the aging sequence.

Edited January 23, 2007 by sriracha john

[ColPyat]

was that a movie review of a movie you've not seen?

or was that a movie review of a different movie?

either way... well done.

Are you drunk?

I just followed up on another poster's post (which was not yours) and expressed a personal opinion that i disliked Suryothai tremendously and therefore will not go through the torture of watching another movie by such a crappy director again.

No, that is not a movie review as i am honestly not interested enough in the hopelessly untalented director to go into details why i believe camera, acting, directing etc. in Suryothai was about the standard of a cheapo Thai soap opera, and i will not go through another endless movie so i most possilbly will have to say the same again.

[sriracha john]

oh ok.. so it was the latter then... well done...

[Acquiesce]

'King Naresuan' shatters Record

Not realy a suprise considering they shelved all other movies and were only showing this one at the cinemas.

[libya 115]

I shall go and see this movie tomorrow, everyone I know who has seen it, say it's great.

Plus...Why do some movies get released 'late' in Thailand? 'The Queen' was released ages ago in the U.K.

[sriracha john]

'King Naresuan' shatters Record

Not realy a suprise considering they shelved all other movies and were only showing this one at the cinemas.

Yes, they do do that from time to time at the local cineplex for both Thai and foreign films. It's frustrating when two popular movies are released at the same time and then the second one never makes it here because it's moved on during the time the other "blockbuster" was exclusively played. It's particularly frustrating if the exclusive movie isn't good and the second one is.

Still, given that other movies like Suriyothai or Spiderman 2 had the same treatment, they didn't garner the crowds I saw with King Naresuan nor accumulate the box-office receipts like this one apparently has.

Edited January 24, 2007 by sriracha john