Netflix agreed Tuesday to team up with SK Global, makers of Crazy Rich Asians for a production based on the gripping real-life rescue of the “Wild Boars” football team from a flooded Thai cave.
But the streaming giant would not immediately be drawn on whether it would give the saga its high-end mini-series treatment or be made into a film.
The 12 boys and their coach became trapped in a flooded Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand during the monsoon season on June 23 last year after finishing football training.
The twists and turns of their dramatic 18-day rescue dominated international headlines, as dive experts worked round the clock to extract them from the bowels of the cave with waters rising and food running out.
The Wild Boars, several of them from poor and marginalised ethnic hill tribes, have since been catapulted to global fame, revelling in invites from professional football clubs and television appearances including on Ellen Degeneres’ headlining US daytime show.
A lucrative mini-industry in retelling their story has spun out, with local and international film companies and publishing houses queuing up to squeeze out books, films and documentaries.
“There is a universality to storytelling and this incredible tale is no exception,” said Erika North, director of international originals for Netflix at a ceremony attended by SK Global, the Wild Boars team and their coach.
“We are looking to tell the most authentic story possible,” she said, adding it would not be finished this year but refused to confirm the format it would take.
Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu will also join the project as director, along with Thai director Nattawut Poonpiriya, whose 2017 heist thriller Bad Genius earned critical acclaim.
A separate project due out later this year is feature-length film The Cave from Thai-born director Tom Waller, who enlisted real rescuers as actors in the movie.