Hollywood Hunks heading for Thailand

Thailand Welcomes Rambo - The Nation
By ALISA TANG Associated Press Writer
┬й 2006 The Associated Press

NEW YORK тАФ Thailand's new military rulers apparently will not get in the way of the millions of dollars the country stands to make as the backdrop for new films starring Sylvester Stallone, Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe.

Stallone will spend several weeks in Thailand early next year, shooting "Rambo IV: In the Serpent's Eye" in the country's lush, mountainous northern provinces, said Wanasiri Morakul, director of the Thailand Film Office.
About 70 to 80 percent of the movie, which Stallone will produce, direct and star in, will be shot in Thailand _ earning the country about $5 million, Wanasiri told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday.
She said that after a committee read the "Rambo" script, they gave the green light for the shoot in Thailand, but were concerned that violence in the movie could reflect badly on ethnic minorities in the area where filming takes place.
She also wanted the filmmakers to assure villagers and environmentalists that any bombing scenes _ "in that Rambo style" _ would not harm the environment.

Activists were up in arms over "The Beach," shot in 2000 and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, complaining a beach in a Thai national park was damaged during the shooting. The filmmakers denied it.

Washington will be in Thailand Nov. 8-13, Wanasiri said, to film "American Gangster," in which he stars with Russell Crowe. The story is about play Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas and drugs smuggled to New York in the 1970s inside the coffins of American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.

Only about 5 percent of the movie will be shot in Thailand _ in the capital Bangkok and in the mountainous north _ employing about 250 Thais and bringing the country at least $1.6 million, Wanasiri said.

Thailand has touted itself as an ideal film location and had a total of 372 shoots this year for foreign movies, TV series, ads and music videos, worth $37 million.

Recent movies shot partially in Thailand included "Alexander" and "Star Wars Episode III."

I think Nicholas Cage has not long left or maybe still here.