Tadanobu Asano stars in Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Morte Cucina

Tadanobu Asano

Dominique Chariot/WireImage

Always busy Japanese actor – Tadanobu Asano – is currently having a moment as one of the stars of Disney’s hit samurai series Shogun – Join the cast of Thai director Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s upcoming thriller Morte Cucina. The actor and director last collaborated two decades ago on the romantic crime thriller The last life in the universe (2003), which was Thailand’s official submission to the Academy Awards that year and won Asano the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival.

Its events take place in contemporary Bangkok. Morte Cucina It follows a talented young chef named Sao who had the chance to meet a man who sexually assaulted her when she was a teenager. The film’s tagline reads: “Using her talents in the kitchen, Sao puts her revenge plan into action — and achieves a somewhat unexpected result.”

The project’s producers are keeping the nature of Asano’s role under wraps for now, but have revealed that newcomer Thanathon Boonsang will play the central role of Sao, while Thai stars Nopachai Chaiyanam and Kris Srepoomseth will take on the two male leads. Nopachai previously starred in the 2011 crime thriller directed by Pen-ek head shotWhich premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Morte Cucina Co-written by Pen-ek and Kongdej Jaturanrasamee (hunger, Ann’s faces). It is Pen-ek’s first feature film since the crime thriller Samui song in 2017. Veteran Asia-based cinematographer Christopher Doyle, known for his collaborations with Wong Kar-wai, will lens the film.

Morte Cucina The film will be produced by Soros Sokhum of 185 Films (which recently produced Netflix’s Thai thriller Hunger) and Asia-based producer Connor Zorn, in collaboration with Manuel Checchi of Joker Films and Alexandra Hausdorff of Deal Productions. Goodfellas (formerly Wild Bunch) is handling international sales, except in North America, which is represented by CAA.

Production on the film is expected to begin in April, with the makers targeting its premiere at a major European festival next year.