Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand - The producer of the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy is planning to shoot a $15 million movie about a romance between a local taxi driver and a beautiful Westerner blossoming on the bustling streets of this Thai capital.

Barrie M. Osborne will produce "Round Five," which is scheduled to be shot in Bangkok from October to December and will be screened worldwide, said Daniel Ross, associate director of Mullis Capital, a Bangkok-based company that sought project funding.

"Round Five" will feature the driver of a Thai tuk-tuk - a noisy open-air three-wheeled taxi - who leaves his life as a Buddhist monk to earn money for his ailing mother. The driver, also a former traditional Thai kickboxer, falls in love with a young Westerner visiting Bangkok.

The filmmakers are seeking a "high profile" American actress for the lead role, Ross said. For the Thai lead, they want a man who speaks fluent Thai and English and knows about traditional Thai kickboxing.

Wych Kaosayananda, a Thai, will direct.

Besides the "Rings" series, Osborne has produced several Hollywood blockbusters in recent years, including "The Matrix" and "Face/Off."

$15 million movie about a romance between a local taxi driver and a beautiful Westerner

I guess it's no more far fetched that 'the matrix', or 'LOTR'.

For the Thai lead, they want a man who speaks fluent Thai and English and knows about traditional Thai kickboxing.

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.....and who has a brother that owns a jewellery store.....

Since when have Tuk Tuk drivers been able to speak fluent English (or Thai for that matter)

Driving licence not essential.

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand - The producer of the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy is planning to shoot a $15 million movie about a romance between a local taxi driver and a beautiful Westerner blossoming on the bustling streets of this Thai capital.

Barrie M. Osborne will produce "Round Five," which is scheduled to be shot in Bangkok from October to December and will be screened worldwide, said Daniel Ross, associate director of Mullis Capital, a Bangkok-based company that sought project funding.

"Round Five" will feature the driver of a Thai tuk-tuk - a noisy open-air three-wheeled taxi - who leaves his life as a Buddhist monk to earn money for his ailing mother. The driver, also a former traditional Thai kickboxer, falls in love with a young Westerner visiting Bangkok.

The filmmakers are seeking a "high profile" American actress for the lead role, Ross said. For the Thai lead, they want a man who speaks fluent Thai and English and knows about traditional Thai kickboxing.Wych Kaosayananda, a Thai, will direct.

Besides the "Rings" series, Osborne has produced several Hollywood blockbusters in recent years, including "The Matrix" and "Face/Off."

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My hubby's perfect for that part! Lights, camara, action!

(Except he doesn't act, but hey lets live the dream! )

The story is too banal.

All good films must have a twist – the unexpected. Who cares about a boy meets girl, they fall in love, fall out of love, fall back in love type of story. There are millions of these cliché films, in the Western and the Thai movie tradition. So what, that its Thai/farang – what’s new?

Now, make the taxi driver to be a sophisticated older Thai, down on his luck, who meets an aging pop star and falls in love. Despite all the complications there could be in such a relationship, they get married and conquer the world. Then there is something people would queue up to see.

Especially if the taxi driver was played by Mr. T (think of the political benefits in street cred.) and the pop star by Madonna (she may even get one more hit record out of the deal).

With a good tan and six months to learn Thai boxing and an hour to learn how to drive a Tuk Tuk, I would say the part ws madefor me9 I am currently having Thai language lessons, so I should be ready just on time... where do I apply

Dont need computer skills though do they otherwise Im dead meat !!

The story is too banal.

All good films must have a twist – the unexpected. Who cares about a boy meets girl, they fall in love, fall out of love, fall back in love type of story. There are millions of these cliché films, in the Western and the Thai movie tradition. So what, that its Thai/farang – what’s new?

Now, make the taxi driver to be a sophisticated older Thai, down on his luck, who meets an aging pop star and falls in love. Despite all the complications there could be in such a relationship, they get married and conquer the world. Then there is something people would queue up to see.

Especially if the taxi driver was played by Mr. T (think of the political benefits in street cred.) and the pop star by Madonna (she may even get one more hit record out of the deal).

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the girl maybe ends up getting shot by a police officer to add a bit of realism

15 m budget - its impossible to spend that kind of money on a Thai-made movie - the US actress they're bringing in must be A list and account for a lot of the expenditure.

The story is too banal.

All good films must have a twist – the unexpected. Who cares about a boy meets girl, they fall in love, fall out of love, fall back in love type of story. There are millions of these cliché films, in the Western and the Thai movie tradition. So what, that its Thai/farang – what’s new?

Now, make the taxi driver to be a sophisticated older Thai, down on his luck, who meets an aging pop star and falls in love. Despite all the complications there could be in such a relationship, they get married and conquer the world. Then there is something people would queue up to see.

Especially if the taxi driver was played by Mr. T (think of the political benefits in street cred.) and the pop star by Madonna (she may even get one more hit record out of the deal).

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the girl maybe ends up getting shot by a police officer to add a bit of realism

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...and he gets away with it on account the fact he knew a secret informant who was in BKK that evening who also had a gun...

...and then she goes home to her boyfriend and he goes back to his wife.

Then she gets a call about HIS sick buffalo...do we know the ending already?

There has yet to be a sucessful contemporary film made in Thailand.

Hasn't there?

Oh apart from Th Beach, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it was sucessful.

There has yet to be a sucessful contemporary film made in Thailand.

Hasn't there?

Oh apart from Th Beach, but I wouldn't go as far as to say it was sucessful.

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Steven Segal (all right, flame me) made a film called "Belly of the Beast" in Thailand.

The story was exciting, the photography was excellent.

Segal monotoned in his usual way, but impressed with his knowledge of Thai and his respect for Thai culture.

I did not fall asleep - which has now become my main criteria as to whether a film is good enough.

I fell asleep in "The Beach" and "Titanic" - haven’t seen” The Aviator" yet.

Much rather watch Segal anyway.

What about Ong-Bak (Muay Thai dude avenges theft of Buddha statue from village)? I thought it was rock. Bangkok Dangerous internationally aclaimed, though personally I didn't like it. Many more, Thai film industry is something to be proud of, regional leader.

Many more, Thai film industry is something to be proud of, regional leader.

Yeah, lots of competition coming out of Cambodia and Burma.

This IS a little strange, actually. This producer has only been working on a-list pictures for the last 10 or so years, for the most part, but $15 million for a feature film is a ridiculously low sum of money, unless it has NO recognizable stars, and they plan on producing the whole thing in Thailand. But still, trite story or not, I can see all the usual angles. "The Mysterious Orient", "The Exotic Romance", "The Excitement of Thai Kickboxing Action", "The Trip to Buy Discounted Gemstones".....etc.

Sure, exciting stuff.

Since when have Tuk Tuk drivers been able to speak fluent English (or Thai for that matter)

Driving licence not essential.

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since when did tuk-tuk drivers have any sort of sex appeal to farang women?

must have been impressed by the driver shaving with the wing mirror or picking his feet

or maybe his ability to spit large gobs of phlegm whilst winding back the throttle

Many more, Thai film industry is something to be proud of, regional leader.

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Thailand:

Hub of SE Asian Film Industry

Hub of Regional Leaders

Hub of Hubs

Hubba Hubba !

i cant believe any film producer would use such a premise for a story !

have you seen the average tuk-tuk drivers feet ?

they are black with grime ! unwashed for months !

tuk-tuk drivers are just one step up from a ricksha driver and they are just about at the bottom of the social pecking order

why lavatory cleaners rank above a tuk-tuk driver !

Think this is unlikely?

Well, its based on a very true and very famous story during the 1970s and 1980s.

It happened in Khorat (if memory serves me right) in the early 1970s between the English wife of an American diplomat and a samlor driver. Ask your wives if they've ever heard of the tale of 'Smokey, Mairm' and the Samlor Driver although it may be a little dated now.

I'll dig out the original article at some point and give you a translation.

Actually, this proposed film is a bit of a rip-off, because it was just done almost verbatim in India by an Independent filmmaker.

The name of the film is Hari Om, and it was shown at this year's BKK film festival. And it was an incredibly beautiful film. I actually felt a bit angry when I heard of this blatant plagarism. I wonder how the Indian filmmaker feels.