How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies?

Directed by Pat Boonnitipat, with Putthipong Assaratanakul, Usha Seamkhum, Sanya Kunakorn leading the cast, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was produced by GDH 559 with a confirmed budget of $1,000,000, placing it in the micro-budget category for drama films.

At $1,000,000, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was produced on a lean budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $2,500,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• Gone in 60 Seconds (1974): Budget $1,000,000 | Gross $40,000,000 → ROI: 3900% • A Woman Under the Influence (1974): Budget $1,000,000 | Gross $12,200,000 → ROI: 1120% • Rear Window (1954): Budget $1,000,000 | Gross $37,042,336 → ROI: 3604% • Raise the Red Lantern (1991): Budget $1,000,000 | Gross $16,600,000 → ROI: 1560% • The Turin Horse (2011): Budget $1,000,000 | Gross $162,088 → ROI: -84%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Above-the-Line Talent Drama films live or die on the strength of their performances. Securing award-caliber actors and experienced directors represents the single largest budget line item, often consuming 30–40% of the total production budget.

▸ Location Filming & Period Production Design Authentic locations — whether contemporary or historical — require scouting, permits, travel, lodging, and often significant dressing to match the story's time period. Period dramas add the cost of era-accurate props, vehicles, and set decoration.

▸ Post-Production, Color Grading & Score The editorial process for dramas is typically longer than genre films, with careful attention to pacing and tone. Color grading, a nuanced musical score, and detailed sound mixing are critical to achieving the emotional resonance that defines the genre.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Putthipong Assaratanakul, Usha Seamkhum, Sanya Kunakorn, Sarinrat Thomas, Pongsatorn Jongwilas Key roles: Putthipong Assaratanakul as M; Usha Seamkhum as Amah; Sanya Kunakorn as Kiang; Sarinrat Thomas as Sew

DIRECTOR: Pat Boonnitipat CINEMATOGRAPHY: Boonyanuch Kraithong MUSIC: Jaithep Raroengjai EDITING: Thammarat Sumetsupachok PRODUCTION: GDH 559, Jor Kwang Films FILMED IN: Thailand

Box Office Performance

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies earned $303,772 domestically and $73,496,228 internationally, for a worldwide total of $73,800,000. International markets drove the majority of revenue (100%), indicating strong global appeal.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies needed approximately $2,500,000 to break even. The film surpassed this threshold by $71,300,000.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $73,800,000 Budget: $1,000,000 Net: $72,800,000 ROI: 7280.0%

Detailed Box Office Notes

A sleeper hit, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies grossed an estimated US$73.8 million worldwide, including ($12.3 million) in Thailand, It grossed ฿172.6 million ($5.3 million) in combined receipts in Metropolitan Bangkok and Chiang Mai alone, becoming the highest-grossing GDH film in Thailand and twelfth-highest grossing domestic film of all time. and grossed $5.8 million in its first two weeks in China. How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has grossed $14.8 million in China, $25 million across Western markets (including $309,000 in the U.S.), and $34 million across Southeast Asia and Australia,

According to GDH, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has been screened to over ten million people, and it topped the box office in Singapore from 6–9 June, and it became the highest-grossing Thai film in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In the Philippines, tickets were sold out on its opening day and screenings were increased to meet demand.

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Highly Profitable

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was a clear financial success, generating $73,800,000 worldwide against a $1,000,000 production budget — a 7280% ROI. After estimated marketing costs, the film still delivered substantial profit to GDH 559.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

The outsized success of How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies likely influenced studio greenlight decisions for similar drama projects.

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies has been considered an atypical box office hit for Thai cinema, which has historically favored horror, action, slapstick or teen comedy films. while Bruce Scott of Prestige argued this was prompted by an increase in foreign productions taking place in Thailand, citing Netflix's ฿6.5 billion (US$200 million) investment to support Thai filmmaking. She stated the impact of How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies could be the growth of Thailand's creative economy: according to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), it was worth US$44.5 billion in 2025. This marked 8% percent of the country's GDP, with nearly 990,000 people employed in the sector across 93,000 businesses.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

Unlike most GDH films, (including those produced by its wholly owned subsidiary production company Jor Kwang Films), which are usually developed by producers or directors, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies was pitched by GDH screenwriter Thodsapon Thiptinnakorn in December 2020. Thodsapon's idea revolved around a ten-page synopsis inspired by caring for his grandmother during the COVID-19 pandemic and the family conflict over the lack of inheritance given to her daughter or caregivers.

As such, after Thai Chinese director Pat Boonnitipat was hired, he worked with Thodsapon to adopt a more emotionally-driven narrative for the film: Pat had previously worked with GDH on Project S: The Series (2017–2018) and Bad Genius (2020). Pat and Thodsapon ultimately worked on the screenplay for four hours a day, five days a week, over two years (which largely included hours-long conversations about their respective families and lives): during this time, the screenplay evolved to include other characters beyond the grandmother and grandson.

Pat later stated it took him eight months to learn how to write for film compared to television; How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies is his feature film debut. He spoke on the process, saying, "It is much harder to be precise making a film [compared to] TV, which uses coverage—shooting a lot of material and then deciding later [what] to use. For film, every shot [must] be intentional, to make the most out of every moment." During a February 2024 promotional interview at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Pat argued that his previous television projects required "controlling" and guiding the audience's emotions and reaction, which he felt left the projects with a lesser "depth of feeling": for How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, he abandoned this in favor of approaching the film wanting to make the audience "reflect about themselves".

▸ Casting

Putthipong "Billkin" Assaratanakul was cast in his debut lead film role, alongside acting debutante Usha "Taew" Seamkhum. Putthipong was the producers' first choice but Pat disliked his initial audition: Putthipong was hired following a second audition, after taking a long break from acting to attend acting classes. Usha was hired after a screen test with Putthipong, with the producers also wanting a first-time actress for the role. In an interview with The Review Geek in August 2024, Pat said he catered the screenplay and the character to fit Putthipong.

▸ Filming & Locations

Principal photography primarily took place in Talat Phlu, a traditional Thai Chinese community recognized as one of Bangkok's Chinatowns. Filming locations included Talat Phlu Market and Wat Chantharam Worawihan, both of which became popular visiting locations among fans following the film's release. According to Putthipong, filming lasted for 25 days and was primarily done using a single-camera setup:

To accommodate for Usha's age, the crew implemented regular breaks during shooting to allow her to rest. According to Pat, scenes which featured Usha walking or talking with Putthipong took the most takes to complete, owing to her inexperience in acting and Pat's strict blocking requirements. Many of the scenes were filmed without staged prior rehearsals involving dialogue and contained improvisation, with the cast revealing any rehearsals predominately focused on Pat's strict blocking and movement instructions.

Although required by GDH to make abstract pitches regarding the film's themes to secure funding from potential investors, Pat refused to share any details of the film's themes with the cast, saying, "I wanted them to be completely present [while filming] and really open up to each other so when we hit record, [their acting] came out completely naturally". Pat was encouraged to favor wide shots and implement a slow pace for How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies after being told it may not generate much box office return, saying, "Many people told me the film might not make much money [so] I treated [filming it] as if it might be my first and last feature. I wanted it to feel timeless."

[Filming] Principal photography primarily took place in Talat Phlu, a traditional Thai Chinese community recognized as one of Bangkok's Chinatowns. Filming locations included Talat Phlu Market and Wat Chantharam Worawihan, both of which became popular visiting locations among fans following the film's release.

▸ Music & Score

Jaithep Raroengjai was hired to compose the film's score and the soundtrack album was released digitally by GMM Music, the parent company of GDH, on 17 September 2024. It includes seven songs featured in or inspired by the film, including its theme song "Ever-Forever" performed by Putthipong, and a cover of the Chinese traditional folk song "Aum Kim Kong" performed by Usha. In a June 2024 interview with Magdalene, Raroengjai said the film's music, which primarily features a repurposed wooden piano, was composed to be "natural" to make How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies "feel real, raw, and close to the audience": Pat also stated his preference to listen to "gentle [and] natural" piano during writing. The music, which features sporadically during How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies, was recorded over a three-day period in a film editing studio.

▸ Marketing & Release

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies gained international attention after videos from SM Supermalls theatres in Manila, where staff handed tissues to viewers, went viral. Indonesian production company Falcon Pictures hosted the press conferences with Pat in Jakarta between 25 May and 27 May in response to the film's initial success.

Ahead of the film's release in the U.S., Usha conducted a Q&A session in Los Angeles.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 16 wins & 11 nominations total

Additional Recognition: How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies won its first award, the Audience Award, at the 23rd New York Asian Film Festival, in July 2024. That October, the film was selected by the National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations as Thailand's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. It became Thailand's first submission to advance to the 15-film shortlist, announced on 17 December, but the film or the cast failed to receive any nominations. Writing for Collider, Sara Resende argued Usha's performance was snubbed at Western film awards, stating, "[her] stunning [film] debut is nothing short of extraordinary and should [have gotten] award buzz".

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CRITICAL RECEPTION

The site's critical consensus reads, "A comedy of generational manners that blossoms into a sweet tearjerker, How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies bets big on earnestness and hits the jackpot." Audiences polled by Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an average rating of 96%, The Philippine Star's Jelou Galang praised the production design and Kraithong's cinematography.

In a review for CNN Indonesia, Muhammad Hifzurahman commended the slower pace, saying "[it is] a packed story [that does not] patronize" and called the performances "sweet and very touching". He also praised the "simple choice of backgrounds" for not distracting away from the dynamic between the film's cast and further commended the music and scoring. Noel Wong praised How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies for being an accurate reflection of Asian family dynamics in his review for Free Malaysia Today. Writing for The Rakyat Post, Keran Raj called the "witty and natural" screenplay as "one of the film's strongest aspects", while also praising the "charming and convincing" performance by Putthipong, the "warmth and wisdom" of Usha's performance, and their on-screen chemistry, which he labelled the "heart and soul" of the film.

The film was a critical success outside Asia. Writing for Film Threat, Alex Saveliev gave How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies a positive review, saying it "brims with wisdom and insight" and called the comedy "acerbic and gentle". He also praised the dialogue, labelling it "biting, crisp, smart, and frequently heartbreaking". Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com complimented the music, comedy, and Pat's direction, saying "every scene was packed with lived-in details". He also applauded the "care" and "sensitivity" in the screenplay, concluding the film is "a sunny, gracious portrait of family life".