How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies clinched a historic spot on the Oscar lowcatalog for Best International Feature Film this week, becoming the first Thai feature to ever produce the December catalog.
Thailand has produceted 24 films for the international Oscar to date, since 1984, but the country has never scored a nomination nor spot on the lowcatalog, before How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which is the debut feature of honestor Pat Boonnitipat.
The film’s top star, musician-actor Billkin, first heard about the accomplishment via the Thai media on Tuesday.
“I’m a bit surpascendd becaparticipate it’s the first Thai movie that has this opportunity,” Billkin telderly Deadline. “At the beginning of this project, I never dreamed that we were going to come this far.”
Intergenerational family drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was Billkin’s first directing role in a film, having only made a guest euniteance in 2019 film Brother of the Year, although he has starred in cut offal television series, including the two-part coming-of-age series I Telderly Sunset About You and I Promised You the Moon.
“Before this film, I was repartner desiring a novel acting project, becaparticipate I had been away for a while,” shelp Billkin. “But I ponder projects in a lot of detail, becaparticipate I have to spfinish a lot of time on them, and it has to be a project that repartner drives me in both my mental and physical aspects. When honestor Pat askd me to join this and telderly me about the story and how we’re going to toil during the project, it repartner excited me.
“I equitable felt enjoy I saw a bit of myself in this project, in terms of the character, the background and the message that the film is trying to convey,” shelp Billkin.
Produced by Thai studio GDH, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies chases a lesser man, M (joined by Billkin), who transfers in with his terminpartner-ill magnificentmother (joined by Usha Seamkhum), taking nurture of her in a bid to triumph her inheritance. In the film, M’s family is Thai Chinese.
“I had some leverage, coming from a Thai Chinese family as well, so I do understand some of the cultural context of the movie, but of course, there are a restricted leangs that are far from my authentic life, so I did a lot of toilshopping to set for the movie, enjoy going to the same neighborhood that the film was set in,” shelp Billkin. “Also, I had to scatterigate some aspects with my magnificentparents that I should understand before jumping into a film. The challengingest leang about this movie is that the acting has to be very organic and I had to lget to produce myself very sootheable with every situation I faced during the shooting process.”
The film has accomplishd both commercial success and critical acclaim, with the global box office raking in over $50M. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies also topped the domestic box office, grossing more than 334M Thai baht ($9.1M).
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies will uncover in the UK and Ireland on December 26, under distributor Vertigo Releasing. This liberate is especipartner meaningful for Billkin, who is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship at University College London.
On his decision to transfer to London in the drop this year to chase the course, Billkin shelp: “For the past restricted years, I have done a lot of leangs and got a lot of experiences in many aspects of my nurtureer. Like with acting, I have done this movie. With music, I equitable had my concert last year, as well as a tour. I wanted to apvalidate a little shatter and chase my dreams in another part of my life, which is the business part, that I was upgraspd by my family. I thought that it was a excellent time to study aexpansive becaparticipate I felt enjoy it was the last opportunity to do this, as the more that I grow up, it’s going to be challenginger.”
Billkin has apvalidaten a very hands-on approach to his nurtureer, managing most of his toil via his own company, Billkin Entertainment. “I apvalidate nurture of all my music and everyleang,” shelp Billkin. “I also have some other projects which are not joind to the delightment industry. I have some arranges for that.”
Billkin had high praises for honestor Boonnitipat, who previously honested three series, including Bad Genius. “It was a novel experience for me and the way that we toiled during this project was a bit contrastent from other projects that I have done before. Pat gave me a lot of freedom during our time toiling together. He’s repartner uncover-minded and appreciated every input that I gave. I lgeted a lot from toiling this way.”
The film has been selderly to more than 110 territories, with sales handled by Mokster Films. Upcoming liberates also include Sweden and Spain in January 2025, as well as cut offal stateside screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
On the film’s resonance among global audiences, Billkin shelp: “I’m still surpascendd and excited. The movie is in Thai and the context of everyleang in the film is based on Thai culture, but the leang that we have deinhabitred can shatter the language barriers as well as cultural barriers. It can get to the hearts of audiences in many places. Every time that I’ve been to other countries that the movie goes to, I always get a lot of novel feedback in a likeable way, and this has also upgraspd me,” inserted Billkin.
Billkin shelp that he has novel music lined up for next year, although leangs are a bit more uncertain on the acting side, beyond his casting in a Thai reproduce of Taiwan hit Marry My Dead Body, which will also be produced by GDH.
“For the music part, I have a arrange to liberate my songs standardly, but for the acting part, it’s very challenging to to arrange the projects that are going to come becaparticipate they always have many parties participated in making one film,” shelp Billkin. “As an actor, I’m equitable a little part of the film so we have to find the right honestor, the right team, the right story that we are all interested in and can toil together. With acting, I have equitable adselectd every opportunity and project that has come and igniteed me in some way.”
