The sad story of Thai films struggling at the box office

[reader]

From The Nation

In early 2025, the Thai film industry made a bold statement, announcing an extensive lineup of movies set to hit theatres throughout the year.

With over 100 films planned for release, this aggressive strategy—averaging around two films per week—reflected a new level of ambition within the industry.

A major reason behind this surge was the decline of traditional television dramas. Many TV production companies shut down, leaving directors, producers and writers scrambling for opportunities in film and streaming platforms as their last resort.

Despite the enthusiasm, the box office results from the past two months tell a very different story. Only one film, “Pa Nor” by Five Star Production, has emerged as a clear success, earning 76 million baht and securing a sequel. Beyond that, the situation looks bleak.

Among the major disappointments was “Saensanun Phan San Soo” (แสนสนั่นพันธุ์สั่นสู้) directed by Phing Lampra Phloeng. The film debuted with a modest 2 million baht and quickly vanished from box office charts within a week.

Even GDH, Thailand’s most successful film studio, faced setbacks. Last year, GDH dominated the box office with "How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies" (“Larn Ma”), which grossed 2 billion baht, but its latest project, “Flatgirls” (ชั้นห่างระหว่างเรา), a coming-of-age romance featuring a lesbian couple, failed to replicate that success. The film closed its run at a mere 5 million baht.

Continues at

https://www.nationthailand.com/life/entertainment/40047171

[PeterRS]

I wonder why this is a "sad story". Making movies, unless with some form of government or an official TV station input (e.g. BBC, Canal+, National Film Board of Canada etc.), is a highly risky business. The number of successes a company may have had in the past is also no guarantee that the next one will not be a bomb. Just ask Disney whose recent remake of "Snow White" has had dire reviews. The Guardian's review headline today states "Exhaustingly Awful". Those of us of a certain age will recall "Heaven's Gate" whose loss adjusted for inflation is US$155 million. More recently the ghastly movie version of Lloyd Webber's hugely suggessful stage musical "Cats" and Spielberg's far better version of "West Side Story" have each so far lost well over $100 million.

As that Nation article suggests, Thai fIlm makers and their investors seem to have been paying insufficient attention to the market. Unless you do your research and give the audience either what they want or you have the budget to persuade them that your movie is what they want to see, a movie is far more likely to bomb at the box office. Naturally there have been exceptions. Think of 1999 the indie movie "The Blair Witch Project" whose initial cost of around $60,000 saw a return of $248 million.The most recent "Call Me By Your Nam" was financially successful principally because of its appeal to a particular market and a tight budget of £3.4 million. Against that cinema revenues to date are $41 million with more expected to come from licensing and TV sales.  Exceptions, though, are the rule! 😮‍💨