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The Hanging Balloons, Taweewat Wantha
EXCLUSIVE: Thailand’s 13 Studio has joined forces with Japan’s Toei Company to make The Hanging Balloons, a Thai horror film from Japanese manga artist Junji Ito and Death Whisperer director Taweewat Wantha.
Theror manga artist Ito, who is known for transforming familiar and seemingly ordinary ideas into disturbing and surreal imagery
In the original manga, Tokyo is overtaken by a bizarre epidemic that sees giant, floating balloon heads with human faces and metallic nooses drift across the city, hanging anyone who matches their likeness. The psychological pressure and inescapable nature of the floating doppelgangers overwhelm survivors. The story follows a girl who traps herself inside her home to avoid being hunted down.
The adaptation will be set in Thailand, and filming is scheduled to begin in the country next year, ahead of a planned delivery in 2028.
It is a story that Taweewat has long wanted to bring to the big screen. “Now that the opportunity has finally become real, I want to preserve the horror and atmosphere that fans love from the original, while also exploring the story on a deeper level and bringing a new dimension to it through our own perspective. For me, this is truly a passion project as a film director.”
Shiori Takata, Toei’s director of production international division, said: “Combining their visceral creative edge with Ito’s extraordinary imagination will give birth to an entirely new cinematic experience that will surprise audiences in Thailand and across Asia.”
While building an international slate, Bangkok-based 13 Studio is also pushing towards larger-scale Thai genre productions. It is preparing for the theatrical release of Taweewat’s big-budget Dawn Of Soengsang, which will open on December 31. The action horror film combines Thai supernatural mythology with large-scale action and extensive visual effects.
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