The National Federation of Thai Film Associations (MPC) has selected How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies as Thailand‘s submission for the Oscars‘ best international feature film category.
Directed by Pat Boonnitipat, the film became a box office hit across Asia, with the global box office currently reaching $50M.
Outside of Thailand, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has become the most successful Thai film of all time in Singapore and Malaysia. In Indonesia, the film received more than 3.5 million admissions, surpassing Korean horror film Exhuma (2.6 million admissions) to become the all-time most successful Asian film in the country. Netflix later picked up the film’s streaming rights for Southeast Asia.
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Produced by Thai film studio GDH, the film follows a young man, M, who moves in to take care of his terminally-ill grandmother in a bid to win her inheritance. M is played by top singer-actor Putthipong Assaratanakul (also known as Billkin).
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On the film’s selection as Thailand’s rep for the Oscar race, GDH said that How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is a “cultural phenomenon” that has “brought people of all generations to theaters, with viewers in their 20s to 50s bringing their 70- to 80-year-old grandparents to experience the film together, an increasingly rare sight in today’s digital age.
“The magic of the movie-going experience, however, remains irreplaceable, and How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies embodies that cinematic magic like no other,” the studio added.
The film was co-written by Thodsapon ‘Ped’ Thiptinnakorn, and produced by Jira Maligool and Vanridee Pongsittisak.
International sales were handled by Nelson Mok of Mokster Films.