David Farnor | On 02, May 2019

Jon M. Chu will direct Netflix’s series depicting the Thai cave rescue that rocked newspaper headlines in 2018.

The dramatic story saw 12 boys (of the Wild Boar football team) and their soccer coach trapped for two weeks during the summer in a flooded cave near Chiang Mai. A screen version was immediately anticipated, and multiple projects were, indeed, announced, from Pure Flix Entertainment, which commissioned a production within a month of the rescue, and Universal Pictures, which announced that it had acquired the life rights of coach Ekkapol Chantawong, Dr. Richard Harris, Dr. Craig Challen and the 12 boys. Tom Waller, a director based in Thailand, is also in post-production on a movie called The Cave.

However, Thailand’s government has only given its backing to an official movie version of events in recent months, announcing in March that a series would be produced by SK Global Entertainment. He revealed that exclusive and lifetime rights to direct contact with the 13 had been granted to the project, with each of the boys and coach paid around $94,000, and other sums paid to the organisations involved in rescuing them. 15 per cent of the project’s revenues will also be given to charity organisations focusing on disaster relief.

Netflix announced then that it had boarded the project. Now, it has appointed the people to direct the project, with Crazy Rich Asians’ Chu at the helm, alongside Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to thank the people and organizations from Thailand and around the world who came together to perform a true miracle, by retelling our story,” Ekapol “Ake” Chanthawong, the boy’s assistant coach, said in statement to the Associated Press. “We look forward to working with all involved parties to ensure our story is told accurately, so that the world can recognize, once again, the heroes that made the rescue operation a success.”

 

Netflix boards Thai cave rescue series

9th March 2019

Netflix has boarded a new Thai series depicting 2018’s dramatic cave rescue.

The story, which saw 12 boys (of the Wild Boar football team) and their soccer coach trapped for two weeks during the summer in a flooded cave near Chiang Mai, made headlines around the world last year. A screen version was immediately anticipated, and multiple projects were, indeed, announced, from Pure Flix Entertainment, which commissioned a production within a month of the rescue, and Universal Pictures, which announced that it had acquired the life rights of coach Ekkapol Chantawong, Dr. Richard Harris, Dr. Craig Challen and the 12 boys. Tom Waller, a director based in Thailand, is also in post-production on a movie called The Cave.

However, Thailand’s government has only recently given its backing to an official movie version of events, after considering applications for several months. The series is produced by SK Global Entertainment, and began as a movie, with Lt. Gen. Werachon Sukondhapatipak, a representative of the military junta ruling the country, announcing the project’s green light this week. He revealed that exclusive and lifetime rights to direct contact with the 13 had been granted to the project, with each of the boys and coach paid around $94,000, and other sums paid to the organisations involved in rescuing them.

Now, Netflix has boarded the project, which will now be a miniseries.

“We can confirm that we are working on an original scripted miniseries with SKE Global and 13 Tham Luang Company Limited to bring the incredible story of the Thai cave rescue to audiences worldwide on Netflix,” a spokesman for the streaming giant told Variety.

The news follows the commission of Netflix’s first Thai original series, The Stranded, earlier this year, in collaboration with GMM Grammy and H2L Media group.

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