Thai supernatural thriller Rinrada: The Influencer has locked its first theatrical deals across Asia and the Middle East, with the rollout built around a Halloween opening. Hong Kong-based Autumn Sun Films is handling world sales and announced the agreements around the Asian Contents & Film Market at Busan.
The sales push comes as the film makes its North American debut at Screamfest, giving buyers a festival-tested package before it hits cinemas.
The territory map
Macau gets the film first, opening Oct. 31 at Studio City. Vietnam follows in November, with Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei handled by SB Productions. PT Cahaya Sinema Nusantara has Indonesia, and dates there—along with the Philippines and Myanmar—are still to be confirmed. Moviecloud has picked up Taiwan, while Empire Entertainment has acquired Pakistan and the GCC.
- Macau: Studio City, Oct. 31
- November: Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei
- Licensed, dates pending: Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar
- Other buyers: Taiwan (Moviecloud); Pakistan and GCC (Empire Entertainment)
Why buyers moved early
Star Yoshi Rinrada is making her first horror lead as an influencer, and she brings millions of followers of her own. Autumn Sun’s Elliott Tong said the casting is “truly art imitating life,” because the film’s subject mirrors the star’s real-world social reach. For distributors, that is a built-in marketing asset in markets where the title has no theatrical track record.
Director Artistaya Arriyawongsa co-wrote the film, which uses the supernatural to probe online cruelty and public shaming. He is in-house director at Tham Studio19 and has horror credits including The Elite of Devils (2024) and Waning Moon (2020). Arriyawongsa said, “Sometimes the monsters we fear are the ones we create ourselves.”
The influencer-horror fit
The concept lands at a moment when social-media pile-ons are a familiar news cycle. A ghost story about an influencer ruined online gives distributors a hook that needs little cultural translation, which helps explain why buyers in the Gulf and Pakistan are taking a Thai-language title. The supernatural angle turns a very current anxiety into a commercial genre package.
The playbook for genre sellers
The deal pattern is clean: premiere at a horror festival, close territory deals at a regional market, anchor the first window to Halloween, and lead with a star’s social reach. The story—an influencer wrecked by an online pile-on who returns as a ghost with limited time to get even—gives every buyer the same simple hook: social-media anxiety, told as horror.
The next test is execution. If the Macau Halloween run connects, it gives the November Southeast Asia dates a stronger launch. Locking the still-open dates in Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar will show whether the film can convert early buzz into a full regional run.
Source: Variety
