Principal photography has commenced on thriller, directed by John Erick Dowdle.

The Coup commenced principal photography in Thailand yesterday (Oct 31).

The action thriller, directed by John Erick Dowdle, centres on an American family living in Southeast Asia who find themselves caught in the middle of a military uprising.

Owen Wilson and Lake Bell play the American husband and wife, while Pierce Brosnan takes the role of a heroic government operative.

Dowdle co-wrote the script with his brother, Drew Dowdle.

Bold Films is financing, with Drew Dowdle, Michel Litvak and David Lancaster producing.

Lancaster previously worked in Thailand on Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives, starring Ryan Gosling.

The shoot is being facilitated by Thai-based production company Living Films, whose Thailand-set Hollywood projects include The Hangover 2. Living Films founder Chris Lowenstein is co-producer on the project.

He said: “The producers of the The Coup had a wide choice of countries in which they could have based this production. The fact that they chose Thailand is a great testament to the skills of the Thai crews and
the resources that Thailand offers.”

Executive producers are Andrew Pfeffer and Gary Michael Walters.

Sierra/Affinity is handling international sales.

The southeast Asian country has seen continual growth over the past five years. In 2009, there were under 500 productions shot in Thailand each year. This has grown every year since, and by the end of this year should be approaching 700, according to the Thailand Film Office.

Thailand is currently considering the provision of incentives and Lancaster said: “It is definitely an issue, as more and more countries have moved into the area of incentives. We only hope that Thailand can follow suit as the country already has a terrific crew and equipment base in place”.