Teacher's Diary
After its box-office success in its home country Thailand, Thai romance-comedy "Khid Thueng Vittaya" or "Teacher's Diary" is about to have its Chinese version.
The remake was announced at the recently concluded Busan International Film Festival, Nation Multimedia reported.
China is not alone in the said project, for South Korea's Film Line Pictures Production and Malaysia's Prodigee Media will take part in the production.
Directed by Nithiwat Tharatorn, the original "Khid Thueng Vittaya" features a story of love between teachers stuck in a solitary floating school that has no electricity and cellphone signal.
While Nithiwat has been told that there is no such solitary floating school in China, the story of the remake will still be set in China as it has several atmospheric locations for an old-school houseboat.
Such locations are that of "The Road Home," which featured a story of a young teacher who fell in love with a local girl in a village he was assigned to. The local girl was played by "Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger" star Zhang Ziyi.
While Zhang is Nithiwat's personal choice to play the lead female character Khru Ann for the Chinese version of "Teacher's Diary," she is already 35, so she does not fit the role originally played by Chermarn Bunyasak.
With the script written by Chinese screenwriter Shu Huan, who also wrote "Lost in Thailand," the "Teacher's Diary" remake will be co-directed by Prodigee Media founder Fred Chong and Film Line Pictures Production founder Kim Tai-sik.
The original "Teacher's Diary" is also the official entry of Thailand for the foreign language category of the the 87th Academy Awards, which will be held on Feb. 22, 2015, in Hollywood.
Thailand's entry will go against China's "The Nightingale," which was written and directed by French director Philippe Muyl.
While China has already won one Best Foreign Language Film in the Oscars through Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," Thailand is yet to receive a nomination.
