Watch as the Pang brothers remake their 1999 action flick for their second English-language production, Bangkok Dangerous. All images © Lionsgate.

After The Ring, Dark Water and others, Hollywood is once again turning a hit Asian movie into a big budget, star driven feature film. Opening today from Lionsgate, Bangkok Dangerous is the remake of a 1999 Thai movie directed by Danny and Oxide Pang. It follows the footsteps of elite assassin Joe (Nicolas Cage) on a series of contract hits in Bangkok, Thailand.

The remake was helmed by the Pang brothers themselves -- their second American effort after The Messengers. The two movies share the same Visual Effects Supervisor, Bruce Jones, whose career dates back to Star Trek -- The Next Generation in the 1980s. "I worked with Danny and Oxide on The Messengers, so we had already developed a pretty fair form of communication utilizing pictures, references and sketches I would often mock up for feedback. And, of course, it helps that they both speak English fairly well. Also, every shot in the film was storyboarded, and they were very open to my suggestions as we proceeded through preparation.

"When I got involved, they were planning for about 40 vfx shots only. That's one of the reasons we did not assign an effects producer to the show originally. Later on, I regretted not having a producer as the shot count continued to grow… we ended up with over 200 shots. But once we were into principal photography, the train had already left the station... So, I handled the vfx producing myself, with the help from my assistant, Ekarat Srathana."

The various sequences were assigned to four key vendors.

CINESOUP: 60+ shots
VFX Supervisor John Grower
Arm Removal: limb removal, blood enhancement, etc.
Cross Hairs: cross-hair element, lens aberrations, etc.
Flash Back: plate effects treatments.
Floating Market: split screen comps, pyro elements, etc.
Joe's condo: blue screen comps, pyro, effects animation, CG debris, etc.
Surat's Office: background greenscreen comps.

MICHAEL KAELIN & ASSOCIATES: 80+ shots
Compositing Supervisor Michael Kaelin
Muzzle Flash: muzzle flash elements and plate enhancement.
Helicopter Footage: plate stabilization and extension.
Intersection Hit: adding reflections to windows, muzzle flash, bullet holes, CG blood, etc.

CURV STUDIOS: 40+ shots
Laser Beams: CG laser beams.
Prague Extension: plate extensions and matte paintings.
Prague Hit: greenscreen comps, CG bullet and debris, etc.
Russian Hit: greenscreen comps.
Bad guy blown in half.

REALITY CHECK: 20+ shots
VFX Supervisor Aaron Kaminar
Parade Extension: crowd replication.
Prime Minister Hit: bullet shot to the head.
Miscellaneous