The Thai version of the foreigner-stuntmen extravaganza Bangkok Adrenaline departed cinemas this week after a three week run that saw the locally produced action film up against such Hollywood heavy hitters as Star Trek, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Angels & Demons and Crank: High Voltage, as well as the Thai comedy smash Saranair the Movie.
According to 7-foot-tall actor-stuntman Conan Stevens, who also co-wrote the film, it did pretty well considering.
More people might've gone to see it, but it was it only released with a Thai soundtrack. Conan explains why on his website:
Apparently this is to stop the movie being filmed with a camera in cinema and then being uploaded to the Internet and torrent sites, in fact a very smart move. If the English version or even Thai version in English language was uploaded it would drastically devalue the International rights sales which are still being finalised.
The currrent theory is that no one but Thais will want to watch Bangkok Adrenaline in the Thai language so there is little chance it will make it to the torrent sites and even from there not many foreign downloads will ensure.
Which also means that the [Thai] DVD release of Bangkok Adrenaline is going to be all Thai with no subtitles, with the possibility of a English language version coming out in about nine months time or more.
Count me as proof of the "no one but Thais" theory working. I didn't go see it, much as I wanted to. When it came down to buying a ticket, I just couldn't bear the thought of sitting through a dubbed movie.
I hope it gets released with its original soundtrack eventually.
BANGKOK ADRENALINE is available at eThaiCD.com now and there's only Thai language and no subtitles listed. :(
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Yes, it's to be expected. The DVD follows the Thai-only theatrical release. Hopefully one day Bangkok Adrenaline will get a release in an English-friendly territory.
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