Dingdong Dantes, paired with Regine Velazquez. Marian wants to be paired with Ogie Alcasid

MARIAN RIVERA was supposed to do a full length film on “Nieves, Encanto Slayer”, an episode in “Shake, Rattle & Roll 10”, in last year’s Metro filmfest but it was shelved after she had an accident while taping “Darna”. For this year, instead of “Nieves”, Mother Lily opted to do a remake of “Super Inday and the Golden Bibe”. How does she feel about it? “Iba ang ‘Nieves’ at iba rin itong ‘Super Inday’,” says Marian. “But I’m happy with Super Inday as I’m a fan of Maricel Soriano and this is one of her biggest hits. I feel honored to be chosen to do it for today’s generation. The Super Inday here is a combination of her other Inday movies, like Inday Bote and Inday sa Balitaw, kaya riot na riot talaga ito sa katatawanan. Director Mike Tuviera has changed the story kasi may iba pang superheroes na kasama ako like Jake Cuenca as Amazing J, Pokwang as Kukay, and John Lapus as the Golden Bibe. Lahat kami, may superpowers at ang main enemy namin is Mylene Dizon.”

The coming filmfest will be a tough fight as they’ll be up against the entries of other big stars like Sen. Bong Revilla, Vic Sotto, Dolphy, Ai Ai de las Alas, Kris Aquino. What does she think are the chances of “Super Inday” against them? “Hindi naman sa pagyayabang but I’m confident that malaki ang laban namin. Unang-una, action-comedy-fantasy kami na tiyak magugustuhan ng mga bata. Entire families can watch us on Christmas Day. Regal spent so much for the special effects kaya fantastic talaga ang dating on screen ng CGI scenes. Then, mga Kapuso at Kapamilya, pinagsama rito. John Lapus and I are from GMA while Jake and Pokwang are from ABS. And the wonder of it is nagkasundo kami lahat agad sa set. Masaya kami, chikahan, maganda naging bonding naming lahat. Puro good, positive vibes so we know magiging good and positive din ang resulta nito sa box office.”

On TV, she says GMA has scheduled the start of the taping of her new show, the period epicserye tentatively titled “Amaya” that’s similar to “Jewel in the Palace” in scope, by the last week of November. “Sana nga, matuloy. The problem is they still can’t find a new leading man for me. Kung ako papipiliin, siempre, gusto ko, si Dingdong pa rin. Kaya lang, kapareha na siya ni Ate Regine Velasquez in ‘I Heart You Pare’. So baka naman si Kuya Ogie Alcasid ang ibigay nila sa’kin para exchange partners kami.”