By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The boys are out of the cave. Now Hollywood wants in.
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 realized that this would make an incredibly inspiring movie,’’ Scott said on July 11, speaking by phone from Thailand. “Like a lot of people, we know there’s not a lot of positive news in the world today.’’
Meantime, Jon M. Chu — director of the upcoming “Crazy Rich Asians” movie announced on Twitter the same day, “I refuse to let Hollywood #whitewashout the Thai Cave rescue story!” Chu wrote. “No way. Not on our watch.”
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 traveled to the area around the cave in the northern Thailand, and they have begun talking to some of the participants about their “life rights.’’
In a follow up tweet on July 12, Chu said while it was too early to discuss the new project, one of the biggest lessons he learned from directing “Crazy Rich Asians” was “we must tell our stories especially the important ones so history doesn’t get it wrong.”