BAZ POONPIRIYA SET TO DIRECT HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER “THE INNKEEPER” FOR STARLIGHT
Film Marks the First Project Under Poonpiriya’s First Look Development Deal with Starlight
Award-winning Thai filmmaker Baz Poonpiriya (“One for the Road”, “Bad Genius,” “Countdown”) will direct the English language horror / mystery / thriller “The Innkeeper” for Peter Luo’s Starlight.
“The Innkeeper” is the first project hatched under Poonpiriya’s first look development deal with Starlight. Peter Luo (“Crazy Rich Asians” “Midway,” “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” “Marshall”) will produce the film.
Set against the backdrop of the Southeast Asian financial crisis in 1997, the thriller will evoke Poonpiriya’s unique and exceptional visual storytelling.
The finding of Noah’s disappeared twin brother in a desolate Thai hotel turns out to be the discovery of his own fear.
The scipt is written by Eakasit Thairath (“Phobia,” “Warrior King 2,” “Long Weekend”) and Baz Poonpiriya, with revisions by Logan Martin (“Meat”).
The film will be shot in both the U.S and Thailand in 2022.
Said Luo, “Baz’s work is boundary-breaking in many ways and ‘The Innkeeper’ is a film that will further demonstrate his unique visual storytelling gifts and wow audiences globally. We’re thrilled to have our longstanding collaboration deal and excited to make this our debut project together.”
Poonpiriya graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts in stage directing from Srinakharinwirot University. He worked on a variety of projects afterwards including television commercials and music videos before directing his first film, “Countdown” in 2012. This film won awards at the Thailand National Film Association Awards. “Bad Genius,” his second film, was selected as part of 2017’s Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival programming. The story about a high school student cheating at school and during an international exam really resonated with audiences. After its release in May 2017, “Bad Genius” became Thailand’s highest grossing film of the year, and hit # 2 at the Chinese box office. Poonpiriya won Best Director at the Thailand National Film Association Awards (2018).
Poonpiriya is represented by UTA.
An advocate for bringing Asian culture to Hollywood, Starlight CEO Peter Luo operates out of the company’s offices in Beverly Hills. The company’s newest program ‘Stars Collective’ helps to promote the next generation of diverse voices and creative storytellers, and really accelerate the female power movement. The ‘Stars Collective’ program supports emerging filmmakers, paving the way for new aesthetics driven by top young creative talent and powerful female voices.
Stars Collective recently acquired the rights to the Thomas Mendolia directed horror short “Mr. Thisforthat” and is developing and producing a feature adaptation that Mendolia will direct.
Upcoming films for Starlight include James Wan’s “Malignant” for New Line, the supernatural horror film “UMMA” for Sony Pictures, which is a collaboration with Sam Rami, and stars Sandra Oh; an action/crime/thriller trilogy starring Thai martial arts and action star Tony Jaa; “Golden Empire,” starring Donnie Yen as the world’s most successful multinational drug lord; and a television series adaptation of Rebecca F. Kuang’s highly popular, award-winning fantasy novel trilogy: “The Poppy War” , ‘”Dragon Republic” , and “The Burning God.”
Past Starlight films include a wide range of critically and commercially successful films such as “Marshall,” starring Chadwick Boseman; Jon Chu’s “Crazy Rich Asians”, the sci/fi horror hit “Greta”, starring Chloe Grace Moretz; “Midway”, the WWII action/drama starring Woody Harrelson, Patrick Wilson, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, and Luke Evans; and the horror/mystery/thriller “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” from Guillermo del Toro.
“Midway” and “Crazy Rich Asians” reflect successes of current development deals with Roland Emmerich and Jon M. Chu, respectively. They join esteemed filmmakers such as Robert Zemeckis, Sam Raimi, James Wan and Sylvester Stallone who are also partnered with Peter Luo and Starlight through ongoing development deals.
