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Thailand flips the script on 50 First Dates

I-DLE's Minnie and superstar Nadech star in a new remake where the daily courtship falls on her shoulders

Tita Petchnamnung
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Tita Petchnamnung
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Thailand flips the script on 50 First Dates
Photograph: Bunticha P. - TimeOut Thailand
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Sony Pictures just handed one of their biggest rom-com properties to Thailand’s GDH. If you’re not familiar, this is the Bad Genius studio, the same house that got How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies Oscar-shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. This Thai production powerhouse now claims 50 First Dates.

How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024)
Photograph: GDH

The 2004 Hollywood original is a pure amnesia romance. Drew Barrymore’s Lucy wakes up memory-wiped daily while Adam Sandler’s Henry relives the same courtship ritual. Love on permanent reset yet still choosing each other every sunrise.

But in Thailand’s version, love rewinds in a whole new way: he forgets, she recalls.

50 first dates
Photograph: Sony Pictures

The casting doubles down on surprises. Thai-born I-DLE’s Minnie Nicha leaps from K-pop stages to her first film role. 

minnie g-idle
Photograph: min.nicha

Opposite her is Nadech Kugimiya, Thailand’s eternal heartthrob and box office guarantee, whose film Death-Whisperer 2 became the highest-grossing Thai film of all time in 2024, raking in B825 million. 

kugimiyas
Photograph: kugimiyas

Behind the camera is Mez Tharatorn, whose credits include co-writing How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies as well as hits like The Little Comedian, The Con-Heartist and I Fine… Thank You… Love You.

meth tharathon
Photograph: Content Thailand

Since the announcement, everyone’s talking about cultural translation. GDH rarely does shallow remakes and we already see them reshaping the core story. What changes when the weight of memory shifts from her to him? When daily wooing becomes her task? How will American dating quirks bend into Thai courtship? How will Hawaiian beaches translate into Thai landscapes – and which ones? Cities, mountains or coastal escapes?

50 first dates
Photograph: Sony Pictures

We can only keep guessing but the wait won’t be long. Cameras roll this October, eyes on the big screen in 2026. With Sony Pictures handling worldwide distribution, Thailand surely has earned global trust and is eager to show the world how love unfolds on its streets every single day.

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