‘Bad Genius’ director to helm horror flick set in 1997 Thailand

Photo: Baz Poonpiriya / Facebook
Photo: Baz Poonpiriya / Facebook

The critical and box office darling behind 2017’s Bad Genius will direct a horror film set in the late 1990s that will be filmed in both Thailand and the United States.

Backed by the same money as 2018 blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians, Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya will direct The Innkeeper. 

“Set against the backdrop of the Southeast Asian financial crisis in 1997, the film will chart the story of a man who must grapple with his own fears after discovering his disappeared twin brother in a desolate Thai hotel,” according to Deadline.

The film, set amid the 1997 Asian financial collapse known as the Tom Yum Goong crisis in Thailand, will enter production next year. It will be written by Poonpiriya along with Eakasit Thairath, who penned 2013 muay thai martial arts film Warrior King 2.

It’s a high time for Nattawut, who just scored at the Sundance Film Festival with buddy road trip movie One for the Road. In 2019, Netflix announced he would help helm its Thai cave rescue series, which seems to have since vanished from the face of the Earth. 

In 2017, Bad Genius busted the box office at home, picked up the top film honor and went on to become Thailand’s top-grossing movie overseas.

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