What Thai blockbuster ‘Bad Genius’ means for Asian cinema
Highest grossing Thai movie of 2017 topped the national box office for two weeks
Bad Genius, the highest grossing Thai movie of 2017 with earnings of more than 100 million baht (US$3 million), opens in Hong Kong today.
The film, which was released in Bangkok on May 3, topped the Thai box office for two weeks. Edko Films has brought it to Hong Kong.
Bad Genius resists the romance or horror genres that are traditionally fertile ground for Asian filmmakers. It is a story about a straight-A student who helps her classmates and friends to cheat.
“Initially, I thought it would be a teen comedy-drama and imagined a Thai version of Fight Back to School. I was blown away as it turned out not to be Stephen Chow’s revision but a gripping heist movie similar to Ocean’s Eleven and Now You See Me,” says Esther Yeung, general manager of sales and acquisitions at Edko Films.
Yeung says poor marketing prevents many good Thai movies from succeeding overseas. She believes Bad Genius can buck that trend as it should appeal to a broader audience. “Films like Bad Genius show that Thai filmmakers are more creative than we thought and their stories are of universal interest.”
