How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies clinched a historic spot on the Oscar shortlist for Best International Feature Film this week, becoming the first Thai feature to ever make the December list.
Thailand has submitted 24 films for the international Oscar to date, since 1984, but the country has never scored a nomination nor spot on the shortlist, before How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, which is the debut feature of director Pat Boonnitipat.
The film’s top star, musician-actor Billkin, first heard about the achievement via the Thai media on Tuesday.
“I’m a bit surprised because it’s the first Thai movie that has this opportunity,” Billkin told Deadline. “At the beginning of this project, I never dreamed that we were going to come this far.”
Intergenerational family drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was Billkin’s first leading role in a film, having only made a guest appearance in 2019 film Brother of the Year, although he has starred in several television series, including the two-part coming-of-age series I Told Sunset About You and I Promised You the Moon.
“Before this film, I was really desiring a new acting project, because I had been away for a while,” said Billkin. “But I consider projects in a lot of detail, because I have to spend a lot of time on them, and it has to be a project that really drives me in both my mental and physical aspects. When director Pat invited me to join this and told me about the story and how we’re going to work during the project, it really excited me.
“I just felt like I saw a bit of myself in this project, in terms of the character, the background and the message that the film is trying to convey,” said Billkin.
Produced by Thai studio GDH, How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies follows a young man, M (played by Billkin), who moves in with his terminally-ill grandmother (played by Usha Seamkhum), taking care of her in a bid to win her inheritance. In the film, M’s family is Thai Chinese.
“I had some leverage, coming from a Thai Chinese family as well, so I do understand some of the cultural context of the movie, but of course, there are a few things that are far from my real life, so I did a lot of workshopping to prepare for the movie, like going to the same neighborhood that the film was set in,” said Billkin. “Also, I had to explore some aspects with my grandparents that I should know before jumping into a film. The hardest thing about this movie is that the acting has to be very natural and I had to learn to make myself very comfortable with every situation I faced during the shooting process.”
The film has achieved both commercial success and critical acclaim, with the global box office raking in over $50M. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies also topped the domestic box office, grossing more than 334M Thai baht ($9.1M).
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies will open in the UK and Ireland on December 26, under distributor Vertigo Releasing. This release is especially significant for Billkin, who is currently pursuing a postgraduate degree in entrepreneurship at University College London.
On his decision to move to London in the fall this year to pursue the course, Billkin said: “For the past few years, I have done a lot of things and got a lot of experiences in many aspects of my career. Like with acting, I have done this movie. With music, I just had my concert last year, as well as a tour. I wanted to take a little break and follow my dreams in another part of my life, which is the business part, that I was inspired by my family. I thought that it was a good time to study abroad because I felt like it was the last opportunity to do this, as the more that I grow up, it’s going to be harder.”
Billkin has taken a very hands-on approach to his career, managing most of his work via his own company, Billkin Entertainment. “I take care of all my music and everything,” said Billkin. “I also have some other projects which are not related to the entertainment industry. I have some plans for that.”
Billkin had high praises for director Boonnitipat, who previously directed three series, including Bad Genius. “It was a new experience for me and the way that we worked during this project was a bit different from other projects that I have done before. Pat gave me a lot of freedom during our time working together. He’s really open-minded and appreciated every input that I gave. I learned a lot from working this way.”
The film has been sold to more than 110 territories, with sales handled by Mokster Films. Upcoming releases also include Sweden and Spain in January 2025, as well as several stateside screenings at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
On the film’s resonance among global audiences, Billkin said: “I’m still surprised and excited. The movie is in Thai and the context of everything in the film is based on Thai culture, but the thing that we have delivered can break the language barriers as well as cultural barriers. It can get to the hearts of audiences in many places. Every time that I’ve been to other countries that the movie goes to, I always get a lot of new feedback in a positive way, and this has also inspired me,” added Billkin.
Billkin said that he has new music lined up for next year, although things are a bit more uncertain on the acting side, beyond his casting in a Thai remake of Taiwan hit Marry My Dead Body, which will also be produced by GDH.
“For the music part, I have a plan to release my songs regularly, but for the acting part, it’s very hard to to plan the projects that are going to come because they always have many parties involved in making one film,” said Billkin. “As an actor, I’m just a little part of the film so we have to find the right director, the right team, the right story that we are all interested in and can work together. With acting, I have just embraced every opportunity and project that has come and sparked me in some way.”