Bangkok Dangerous

The theatrical release poster.
Directed by	The Pang Brothers
Produced by	Norman Golightly Graham King William Sherak Jason Shuman
Written by	The Pang Brothers Jason Richman
Starring	Nicolas Cage Charlie Yeung Chakrit Yamnam
Music by	Brian Tyler
Cinematography	Decha Srimantra
Editing by	Mike Jackson Curran Pang
Distributed by	Initial Entertainment Lionsgate
Release date(s)	August 22, 2008[1]
Country	US
Language	English
Budget	US$45 million

Bangkok Dangerous is a 2008 crime film written and directed by the Pang Brothers and starring Nicolas Cage. It is a remake of the Pangs’ 1999 debut film, Bangkok Dangerous, a Thai film for which Cage’s production company, Saturn Films, purchased the remake rights.^[2] Known by its working title, Big Hit in Bangkok,^[3] and also as Time to Kill, it began filming in Bangkok in August 2006, with locations that include Soi Cowboy.^[4][5]

 

[edit] Production

The film follows a hitman (Cage) who goes to Bangkok on assignment. The original film’s main character is a deaf-mute whose disability makes him a fearless, unflinching gunman. That character has been changed in the remake.

“We’d like to keep him the same, but we understand that from a marketing point of view Nic needs to have some lines,” Oxide was quoted as saying in the International Herald Tribune. “So what we’re going to do is transform his girlfriend instead into a deaf-mute. This switch will maintain the drama of communication between the two main characters.”^[6]

Cage’s character’s girlfriend is portrayed by Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung, who prepared for her role by learning Thai dance and sign language.^{[7] [8]}

In addition, Cage’s character will have a local “errand boy” with whom he develops a bond. That role is portrayed by Thai film and television actor Chakrit Yamnam.^[9]

The production was disrupted by the 2006 Thailand coup d’état, with producers temporarily suspending filming. They had hoped to complete the Bangkok production work by October 2006, but it might delayed further. Cage remained in Bangkok, though he had a private jet readied to depart the country in case of any threat.^[10]

Production was eventually completed in October 2006.

The film is due for release in the United States on August 22, 2008.

(wikipedia.org)

About the film: The life of an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, instead finds himself mentoring the young man while simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house.

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality.