'Ong Bak 2' is only the beginning for Tony Jaa, who will soon be back on the set, filming scenes for 'Ong Bak 3'

The new martial arts film "Ong Bak 2 has been in cinemas for just two weeks and already Sahamongkol Films' president Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techaratanaprasert is talking up a storm about the next episode in the franchise.

He's even sunk more than Bt200 million in "Ong Bak 3".

"'Ong Bak 2' is just the prologue," he explains. "The climax of the story comes in 'Ong Bak 3', with lots of excitement in the key action scenes, on which we'll be spending more than Bt100 million."

"Ong Bak 2" has so far earned more than Bt100 million at the box office, not bad for 13 days but still far short of the Bt300 million it cost to make.

The studio and the film's director and star, Phanom "Tony Jaa" Yeerum were able to resolve their conflict over budget overruns but the long delay in shooting led to Somsak deciding to split the film in two parts, with the rest of the story being told in "Ong Bak 3".

"After Jaa returned to work, we had little time to finish the film in time for the December 5 deadline and we couldn't postpone the release," he says.

Restored faith

Filming of "Ong Bak 3" will commence before the end of the year and will only take a short time, as there's plenty footage from "Ong Bak 2" that can be used,

However, there are concerned that the decision to split the film in two parts may negatively affect foreign sales.

"We'll know the response at the Cannes film market in May," he says.

Japanese and North American distributors have already cancelled pre-sale deals for "Ong Bak 2", causing a loss to the company of more than US$5 million (Bt175 million).

Somsak says he has faith in Jaa and believes the superstar is back on track.

"What happened in the past was caused by people around him. We have cleared the air and Jaa is enthusiastic about returning to work," he says.

And Somsak is already thinking about "Ong Bak 4", saying he hopes to persuade Jackie Chan to play a role in the project.

 STAMPEDE!

>> The key scene in "Ong Bak 3" will see elephants invading the palace.

 >> "Ong Bak 3" will be in cinemas next year.