The rescue of a boys soccer team from caves in Thailand captivated the world last year, and now a mini-series chronically the incredible scenes is headed to Netflix .
The streaming giant announced this week that it has secured the rights from 13 Thumluang Company, which represents the boys and their coach, “to tell the true story of how they were rescued after being trapped for two weeks inside of the flooded Tham Luang caves.”
Netflix has partnered with Crazy Rich Asians team SK Global Entertainment and Jon M. Chu, the production house and director behind the smash film, to bring the as-yet-unnamed series to its platform. Thai director Nattawut “Baz” Poonpiriya, whose credits include Bad Genius, will also help lead the project.
There’s no word on how much Netflix has paid for the project, but Thai newspaper The Nation reported that the team plans to donate 20 percent of their earnings to charity “because the families and the boys recognize they have been helped and supported by so many people.”
“This is an opportunity for me as a filmmaker — and also a Thai citizen — to write a Thank you
letter to the rest of the world,” said Poonpiriya in a statement.
“The story combines so many unique local and universal themes which connected people from all walks of life, from all around the world. Thailand is a very important country for Netflix and we are looking forward to bringing this inspiring local, but globally-resonant story of overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to life, once again, for global audiences,” added said Erika North, who is director of international originals at Netflix.
Indeed, the story is one that fits snuggly inside Netflix’s strategy of telling local stories to the world. With nearly 150 million subscribers worldwide, it is a formidable outlet for storytelling.
The company often plays up how popular local content in markets like Korea, Latin America and other places is with its viewers across the world. The Thai cave story already has a global backdrop, so we can expect that’ll get big numbers when it is released.
On that, there’s no date right now but it’ll be some time since the production team has only just been confirmed.
That gives us plenty of time to ponder how perennial tech genius/panto villain Elon Musk, who waded into the saga and proceeded to insult one of the rescuing divers, will be portrayed. Answers on a postcard, please.
