ATF: Thai Horror ‘Reside’ Scares up Pre-Release Sales

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Thai director, Wisit Sasanatieng (“Tears of the Black Tiger,” “Ten Years: Thailand”) will see his next movie “Reside” head into commercial release in Thailand from next week.

While horror is a main staple of Thai cinema, “Reside” is a rarity in that it is pitched as a new form of exorcism drama. It stars Ananda Everingham and Ploy Sornnarin, Supannahongsa best supporting actress prize-winner for her role in 2017’s “Siam Square.”

The story is set in a mountain-top research institute where occupants experiment with new forms of para-psychology. The forces unleashed spark violent reactions in the household.

Simultaneously, M-Pictures, part of the vertically-integrated Major group, will open the film up at Singapore’s Asian Television Forum sales market. M-Pictures has already struck a series of pre-sales deals on the title. Suraya Filem acquired rights covering six territories (Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, The Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam), while Deepjoy licensed it for Taiwan. MVY M-Pictures will release it in Laos and M-Pictures Cambodia will distribute in Cambodia.

There is a similar spread of buyers for another M-Pictures title “Bikeman.” The film is a comedy about a biker, who is unable to tell his family that is not a the banker they believe him to be. HGC Entertainment picked up rights for China. Mango Films has the film for Vietnam, Mega Movie Technology has it for Myanmar, Intercontinental has Hong Kong, Inter Solus Indo has Indonesia. Deepjoy, MVP M-Pictures and M Pictures Cambodia are also buyers, while Suraya has it for three territories – Malaysia, Brunei and The Philippines.