Tony Jaa's Ong Bak 2 topped the box office in Thailand over its opening three-day weekend (Dec 5-7), grossing an impressive $2m (70m baht) despite the political unrest that has rocked the country in the past few weeks.

According to local distributor Sahamongkolfilm International, the opening is the biggest in Thailand so far this year ahead of The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (61m baht) and local comedy Luang Pee Teng 2 (42m baht).

The film, directed by and starring Tony Jaa, looks set to surpass 100m baht by the end of the week and could become the year's highest grosser ahead of The Mummy 3 which took around 125m baht in August.

The film opened on a national holiday celebrating the Thai King's birthday which also coincided with a lull in the current unrest. 'Fortunately the protestors announced that they were leaving the airport on the day the film opened which we believe also helped,' said Sahamongkol executive vice president Gilbert Lim.

Sahamongkol has pre-sold the film to Sony for the UK, Splendid for Germany, Showbox for Korea, Edko Films for Hong Kong and Madman for Australia/New Zealand, amongst other territories.

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