With the Thai football team released, Hollywood gets ready for the movie



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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The dramatic rescue of a Thai men's soccer team and its trainer of a flooded cave complex this week have frozen viewers around the world for more than two weeks, and The story is The divers released the last four of the 12 boys and their adult coach Tuesday

The saga is reminiscent of the 2010 rescue of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped for 69 days, a The film "The 33" starring Antonio Banderas in 2015

Two production companies are now seeking to collect films on the rescue of the Thai football team.

The Thai Navy, whose SEAL unit led the rescue. The Thai government has chosen Ivanhoe Pictures to develop a film to be directed by John M. Chu, the chairman of Ivanhoe Pictures, John Penotti, said in a statement

Ivanhoe Pictures, which has offices in the United States United and Asia, focuses on Asia and North America. This is the co-producer of the movie "Crazy Rich Asians", based on Kevin Kwan's novel and directed by Chu.

"I refuse to let Hollywood #whitewashout the Thai Cave rescue story!" "Chu, who was born in California and has a Chinese heritage, tweeted."

"There is a beautiful story about human beings who save other human beings." The other company seeking to develop a film about the event is Pure Flix in the United States, specializing in Christian and Family Films

Michael Scott, co-founder of Pure Flix, lives in Thailand for part of the year, and the company was on the ground interviewing rescuers for a potential film. his wife grew up with Samarn Poonan, the former Thai navy SEAL who died during the mission.

"These are Thai, Western, European, Australian – people from around the world who helped put these kids safe. told Reuters. "I think there is a global appeal that will inspire millions of people around the world."

Like the Chilean rescue, the Thai drama presents real-life courage in the face of difficult circumstances, said Mike Medavoy, Academy Award-nominated producer of "The 33."

"It's about the triumphs of individuals and groups of human beings about the tragedy," Medavoy said. "It's a great story."

However, the Thai drama on screen is facing obstacles.

First and foremost, filmmakers must guarantee the rights of each of the families of the boys, the coach and the lifeguards. portray in order to get their first hand accounts of what happened. The boys are between 11 and 16 years old.

And replicating the rescue on the screen could be expensive

"The 33" was shot in Colombia and Chile and produced for about 24 million dollars. A movie on Thai rescue could be done for less, says Medavoy, because filming in Thailand is cheaper.

But rescue in cloudy water presents an additional challenge.

"Water and diving scenes are expensive," said Judi Farkas, the literary agent who portrayed author Antonio Mendez on selling film rights from his book " Argo "for the Oscar-winning film. "Every time you film in the water it is expensive."

In addition, a big-screen production would probably take years to bring to the movies, and producers would have to decide if the interest will persist once the newspaper's history is gone, Medavoy "The 33" reports 24 , $ 9 million in cinemas around the world, according to Mojo Box Office, just a little more than its production budget.

The Thai rescue can also attract the interest of television networks, which could accelerate

Tuesday, the US TV channel ABC broadcast a special edition of "20/20" focused on the mission and the Discovery. Channel announces that it will broadcast an hour-long documentary on Friday

(Lisa Richwine's report in Los Angeles, Panu Wongchaum's additional report, Chiang Rai, Thailand, edited by Bill Tarrant and Leslie Adler) [19659022] [ad_2]
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