Tony Jaa and Jeeja making new movie Tom Yam Goong 2 together

After Tony Jaa had a falling out with his studio after Ong-Bak 2 and 3 he went to become a monk for a while. Now he is back and at a press conference announced that he will be making a second part to the movie Tom Yam Goong. Even more surprising is that it will be the first movie that he will make together with Jeeja, Thailand's female version of Tony Jaa so to say. Well, let's just say she is also a pretty awesome martial arts film star and probably the biggest female shooting star. Although I have to say after her excellent debut "Chocolate" all other movies have been pretty mediocre. Let's hope this one will be better. Here is an miage of the press conference courtesy of WiseKwai's film journal:

Twitch Film also has this to say:

Missing elephant jokes aside, this is big news for Jaa with the original Tom Yum Goong - released as The Protector in North America - marking both his last true hit and the beginnings of his troubles. It was immediately after Tom Yum Goong that Jaa essentially declared Pinkaew unnecessary and unwanted, announcing that he would direct his next film himself. Pinkaew was deeply insulted and the relationship between the star and the director who built his career degraded to the point where they weren't even on speaking terms. Pinkaew would go on to groom Jija Yanin in Chocolate while Jaa would crumble badly under the pressure of directing Ong Bak 2 himself, eventually losing control of the badly over budget and over schedule project.

But Tom Yum Goong 2 will reunite the entire Tom Yum Goong / Ong Bak team with Jaa in the lead, Pinkaew directing, Rittikrai handling fight choreography and Chocolate star Jija Yanin also handed a significant role - the first time Jaa has ever shared the stage with another marquee fighter. Like the upcoming Chocolate 2, this film will be shot in digital 3D.

So there we have it: Chocolate 2 is actually already in the making so this should also be interesting to see if it can top the first Chocolate. Unfortunately it says production of Chocolate 2 is just starting in May....as the choreographers are the same as for Tom Yam Goong 2, this means the new Tom Yam Goong will still be quite a while ahead of us.