Written by Joel Gershon and posted on February 27, the report said that the three epic films about the life of King Naresuan may prove to be "the crown jewels" of director MC Chatrichalerm Yukol, who has helmed 25 feature films since 1971.

The first film, which opened January 17, enjoyed Thailand's biggest opening weekend ever, earning Bt120 million over four days. The film has grossed just over US$10 million (Bt355 million) to date.

Thailand's still-reigning box office king is 2001's "The Legend of Suriyothai", also directed by Chatrichalerm, which took in $11.8 million.

The second instalment of "Naresuan" was released on February 15 and has made about $7 million, with the final film in the trilogy due out December 5. The total budget for the trio of films is $20 million - a record for a Thai movie project.

Some might think that the producers of "Naresuan" intended to copy the "Kill Bill" strategy by releasing the first and second episodes within less than a month. However, The Hollywood Reporter said Naresuan's producers denied that this was the case. In fact, the producers originally thought the strategy would backfire. But the audience didn't want to wait too long to see the second film.

Now both movies are doing well and still counting. This is more good news for the Thai movie industry, which is churning out quite a few interesting works this year, including the currently screening "Final Score" - a comic real-life documentary about three students preparing for their university entrance exams.

CNN or CNS?

Finally, iTV will be history. The channel will be renamed Thai Independent Television.

The government will take over iTV after its concession officially ends next Tuesday and a new board of directors chaired by PM's Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan will operate the TV station.

One of our reporters said the choice of a new name is boring. After all, it doesn't make a big difference that the government simply tacked the letter "T" in front of the original name iTV.

The reporter suggested that the government state plainly that they want to transform their new acquisition into a news station like CNN by renaming iTV as "CNS". This should make clear to the audience who's the boss around here.

Busdsk@nationgroup.com