Only a few weeks after its premiere, Pee MakPhraKanong is now Thailand’s biggest-ever box-office hit. The film, directed by BanjongPisanthanakun, took over 100 million baht on its opening weekend, setting a new Thai record. Its box-office total has now exceeded 500 million baht, meaning that Pee Mak, an updated version of the Mae Nak folk legend, has overtaken Suriyothai, the previous record-holder.
Suriyothai was a state-sponsored epic, the most lavish production in the history of Thai cinema, and buying a ticket for it was seen as a patriotic duty. If nothing more, viewers were presumably curious to see what their taxes had been spent on. It was previously considered unassailable, and it held its pole position for more than a decade.