Release and reception
Bad Genius premiered in Thailand on 3 May 2017 at 20:00, in early preview screenings prior to its full release the following day. It earned positive responses from viewers. The film was shown on 216 screens, earning 44.15 million baht (US$1.3 million) over its opening weekend and placing first at Thailand's box office for two consecutive weeks. It passed 100 million baht—a success benchmark for Thai films—on 20 May, and by the end of its theatrical run on 14 June, had earned 112.15 million baht ($3.3 million), making it the highest-grossing Thai film of 2017.
The film was released internationally throughout East and Southeast Asia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It placed first at Hong Kong's box office on its opening weekend, while in Taiwan and Malaysia, the film opened to limited screens but rapidly gained popularity by online word-of-mouth, also rising to the top of the box office in Taiwan. It broke records for highest-grossing Thai film in Cambodia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
The film opened in mainland China on 13 October 2017, a rare occurrence of a Thai film securing a wide release, unedited, in the country. It placed second at the Chinese box office and sixth globally (third excluding the US and Canada) during the weekend of 13–15 October. After seventeen days, it had earned at least $36.5 million, the highest gross ever of any Thai—or Southeast Asian—film in any overseas market. It was a huge success for Chinese distributor Hengye Pictures, who acquired the rights for flat fee of $3.3 million. The film earned a worldwide cumulative gross of $42.35 million as of 22 October, according to Comscore.
Bad Genius's international success has been compared to that of several popular Thai films during the early 2000s, including Ong-Bak, whose previous overseas record was surpassed by Bad Genius soon after its China release. However, the Bangkok Post's film editor Kong Rithdee noted that Bad Genius appeared to be an isolated case, as wider government support of the creative industry was still lacking. Yongyoot Thongkongtoon, GDH's senior director of international business affairs, attributed the film's success (despite the unconventional genre for Thai cinema) to its mainstream story, as well as the region's shared competitive academic culture, which made the film relatable to a wider Asian audience. Although Yongyoot said that the studio's films catered first and foremost to the Thai audience, and that international sales were seen as a bonus, GDH CEO Jina Osothsilp later commented that the company was working to expand its presence in the international market, and that Bad Genius's success in China served as an important milestone in that mission.
On the festival circuit, Bad Genius was screened as the opening feature of the 16th New York Asian Film Festival on 30 June 2017; it was the first Southeast Asian film chosen to open the event. The film was also screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, the New Zealand International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest in Austin, as well as the Vancouver, BFI London, Hawaii, San Diego Asian, Toronto Reel Asian, Leeds, Luang Prabang, and Toronto
international film festivals, and also CinemAsia in Amsterdam and the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.
