Thailand cave rescue: Cave to become centre of a Hollywood movie, or a museum

RESCUERS who pulled a young Thai soccer team from deep inside a flooded cave were dismantling their worksite, as plans emerged to turn the spot into a tourist attraction.

RESCUERS who pulled a young Thai soccer team from deep inside a flooded cave were dismantling their worksite, as plans emerged to turn the spot into a museum in tribute to the daring operation.

At least one film production house was already working on a scheme to make a Hollywood treatment out of the heroics of divers, cavers and medics who risked their lives to free the “Wild Boars”.

Stunning footage of that rescue was released Wednesday showing the youngsters — aged 11 to 16 — being stretchered to safety.

They were also seen sitting cheerfully in their hospital beds, where they are being kept in isolation until doctors are sure they did not pick up any nasty diseases during more than two weeks in the dark.

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Rescue personnel during the operation for members of the "Wild Boars" Thai youth football team inside the Tham Luang cave. Picture: AFP

Rescuers hold an evacuated boy inside the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Mae Sai. Picture: AP

Workers were Thursday packing up the industrial water pumps, heavy-grade machinery and construction equipment at the mouth of the Tham Luang cave, which had been a hi-tech command centre during the 18-day ordeal.

Rescue chief Narongsak Osottanakorn told reporters the site would ultimately be converted into a museum showcasing the clothes and equipment used during the dramatic rescue.

“I believe it will become another highlight in Thailand,” he said.

“Tourists will come visit.” About 50 people were working at the site, National Park ranger Pinitpong Wongma told AFP, adding that he expected work would continue until at least Sunday.

“Nobody is allowed to go inside the cave at all even though there is still a lot of equipment there because water levels have been rising since the rescue mission,” he said.

Adul Sam-on, a member of a Thai youth football team who WAS trapped with 11 other children and their coach, gesturing as he sits inside the Tham Luang cave. Picture: AFP

Family members watch the rescued boys through a window outside the recovery ward at the Chiang Rai hospital. Picture: AP

HOLLYWOOD MOVIE TALK

The producers behind Christian films like “God’s Not Dead” are already in Thailand with plans to develop a movie about the 18-day saga of the soccer team trapped in a flooded cave. Though the drama of headline-grabbing rescues often doesn’t carry over the big screen, Pure Flix Entertainment co-founder Michael Scott believes the story about the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach is ripe for movie adaptation.

“We realised that this would make an incredibly inspiring movie,” Scott said, speaking by phone from Thailand. “Like a lot of people, we know there’s not a lot of positive news in the world today.” Scott said he feels a personal connection with the story. His wife is Thai and he said he was spending the summer in Bangkok when the soccer team went missing. Scott and fellow producer Adam Smith recently travelled to the area around the cave in the northern Thailand, and they have begun talking to some of the participants about their “life rights.” But they also stressed that they aren’t yet pursuing most of the families of the boys, who on Wednesday remained recuperating in a hospital.

“For us it’s not a huge race,” said Smith. “It’s about making sure we get the authenticity right.” Many hurdles await. Most films that enter development never get produced, and the producers are just beginning to seek a screenwriter. Other film productions companies will surely show interest, and they could leapfrog ahead with a larger production.

And while the Arizona-based Pure Flix has found some success with low-budget Christian films (”The Case for Christ”) and conservative documentaries (”Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party”), it’s far from a Hollywood heavyweight. Others in TV and film are already looking to capitalise. Discovery has scheduled one-hour documentary special to debut Friday.

The rescue of the boys lost in the cave in Thailand. Picture: Thai Navy SEALs’ Facebook page

But Pure Flix hopes they can beat any fiction-film rush.

“I don’t think this is a religious film,” said Scott. “I think this is an inspirational film.” There’s also some reason to doubt the box-office appeal of the tale. Ripped- from-headlines movies have not been setting the world on fire. Though Clint Eastwood’s “Sully” was a success, his 2018 docudrama about the 2015 Thalys train attack, “The 15:17 to Paris,” disappointed. Michael Bay’s “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi” (2016) was the director’s worst performing release. Peter Berg’s 2016 big-budget drama about the 2010 oil rig explosion “Deepwater Horizon” likewise fizzled.

The best comparison would be 2015’s “The 33,” about the 2010 mining disaster in Chile that trapped 33 miners for two months. Though boasting a starry cast of Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin and Juliette Binoche, it made barely a blip at the box office, with $24.9 million worldwide.

Imagery of shows the rescue operation at Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Mae Sai district. Picture: Thai Navy SEALS / Facebook

THAILAND CELEBRATES

The rescue of the “Wild Boars” team was still being celebrated in Thailand as the 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach recovered in a local hospital.

The Nation newspaper called the operation a “Triumph of global co-operation” on its front page Thursday while the Bangkok Post published a collage of images of those involved under the heading “You Are Heroes.” The saga started on June 23 when the players walked into the Tham Luang cave complex after football practice and were trapped when monsoon flooding blocked their exit.

People celebrate after evacuation in Chiang Rai as divers evacuated some of the 12 boys and their coach trapped at Tham Luang cave. Picture: AP

Nine days later British divers found the dishevelled and hungry group perched on a ledge four kilometres (2.5 miles) inside the cave.

Over the following week, experts from around the world descended on northern Thailand and rescuers pumped out more than 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools-worth of water.

A huge media pack of more than 1,000 journalists gathered at the mouth of the cave feeding audiences all over the globe with every twist and turn of the dramatic rescue until its joyful conclusion on Tuesday.

Originally published as Thailand cave rescue: Cave to become centre of a Hollywood movie, or a museum