Tony Jaa's new projects

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Aug 11, 2005
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TONY JAA TO RETURN IN COLLABORATION WITH SAMMO HUNG


If you're Tony Jaa and you're looking to rebuild your career after the very public meltdown and collapse that was the production of Ong Bak 2.

Well, one possible solution - a very good possible solution - is to get the hell out of Thailand to a nation where memories are a little shorter and where the masses did not witness your televised breakdown. Then pair yourself up with an acknowledged master, cut out all the outside distractions and focus on simply doing what you do best. And that appears to be exactly what Jaa is now doing.

Details are sketchy but according to reliable sources, with Jaa now out of the Buddhist monastery he took refuge in following the release of Ong Bak 3 and with his exclusive contract with Sahamongkol expiring, there is a new project for Jaa now doing the rounds of the Hong Kong industry looking to nail down the last pieces of needed finance to roll into production. Though we do not know the title or story details we are told that the legendary Sammo Hung is attached as fight choreographer.

A Hong Kong based project has long been rumored for Jaa and this seems the right move at the right time. It will allow Jaa to get back on form away from the media spotlight and pressures of home and, if it turns out, leave him free to ride back into Thailand as a conquering hero after it is completed. A number of companies are in active talks to come on board this one so it would appear that it is not a question of 'if' but of 'when'.


TONY JAA AND PRACHYA PINKAEW REUNITE FOR TOM YUM GOONG 2


Thailand's Sahamongkol Film have announced that Jaa will reunite with director Prachya Pinkaew and fight choreographer Panna Rittikrai for Tom Yum Goong 2.

Missing elephant jokes aside, this is big news for Jaa with the original Tom Yum Goong - released as The Protector in North America - marking both his last true hit and the beginnings of his troubles. It was immediately after Tom Yum Goong that Jaa essentially declared Pinkaew unnecessary and unwanted, announcing that he would direct his next film himself. Pinkaew was deeply insulted and the relationship between the star and the director who built his career degraded to the point where they weren't even on speaking terms. Pinkaew would go on to groom Jija Yanin in Chocolate while Jaa would crumble badly under the pressure of directing Ong Bak 2 himself, eventually losing control of the badly over budget and over schedule project.

But Tom Yum Goong 2 will reunite the entire Tom Yum Goong / Ong Bak team with Jaa in the lead, Pinkaew directing, Rittikrai handling fight choreography and Chocolate star Jija Yanin also handed a significant role - the first time Jaa has ever shared the stage with another marquee fighter. Like the upcoming Chocolate 2, this film will be shot in digital 3D.

The big surprises in this are twofold. First, Jaa and Pinkaew have patched things up and are working together again. This can only be viewed as a good thing because, frankly, neither has been as good without the other. The bigger surprise, though, is that Jaa is once again in the Sahamongkol fold, which I would never, ever have expected to happen. Jaa's original ten year contract with the company will have expired before this film goes in to production, meaning that they have struck a new deal. Consider that at the peak of the Ong Bak 2 debacle Jaa took refuge in a police station claiming that the studio had sent gangsters after him and, well ... the prospect of the star willingly signing up with the studio again seemed unlikely to say the least. Whether there was any basis to the gangster story isn't even the point - if Jaa believed there was enough truth to it that he sought police protection that says something about how incredibly bad the situation between star and company had gotten and I'm amazed that they've gotten back together.

Pinkaew's Chocolate 2 is scheduled to go in to production in May and will need to be completed before this can begin, so don't expect Tom Yum Goong 2 any time soon. But fans should be happy to know it's coming.