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REGAL ENTERTAINMENT’S Mother Lily Monteverde and her daughter Roselle are determined to produce more movies in 2018 after the huge success of their Metro Filmfest entry, “Haunted Forest”. Their first salvo for the New Year that’s opening in theaters on January 17 is a family drama, “Mama’s Girl”, written by Gina Marissa Tagasa and directed by Connie Macatuno.
“Mama’s Girl” stars Sylvia Sanchez as a single mom who raises her only daughter, Sofia Andres as Abby Potpot, all by herself. Conflict occurs when Sofia wants to assert herself and be independent. Also starring in the movie are Diego Loyzaga and Jameson Blake as Sofia’s leading men, with Arlene Muhlach as Sylvia’s best friend.
For their Valentine presentation, they have the fantasy-romance, “My Fairy Tail Love Story”, about a girl, Chantal as played by Janella Salvador, who turns into a mermaid who just keeps on singing. Directed by Perci Intalan, Elmo Magalona stars as Janella’s loyal friend and Kiko Rodriguez as the other guy she fancies.
Other projects of Regal are “Recipe for Love”, written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes and starring Christian Bables and introducing Cora Wadell; and “So Connected”, a millennial love story written and directed by Jason Laxamana and starring Janella Salvador and Jameson Blake.
At Viva Films, their first offering for 2018 is “Mr. and Mrs. Cruz” that opens on January 24. This is the followup movie of acclaimed young female director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo to her mammoth hit in 2017, “Kita Kita”. This stars JC Santos as Mr. Cruz and Ryza Cenon as Mrs. Cruz, but they’re not married to each other. They have both just split from their respective partners and meet by chance in Palawan while feeling lonely and nursing their broken hearts.One movie of Viva that looks promising is “Buy Bust”, directed by Erik Matti who co-wrote it with Michiko Yamamoto. We saw its trailer and it reminds us of the Indonesian action hit, “The Raid”. It stars Anne Curtis in an action role as a drug enforcement agent battling for her life versus drug syndicates. This also stars martial arts star Brandon Vera, Victor Neri, Joross Gamboa, AJ Muhlach, Mara Lopez and Nonie Buencamino.
Other Viva projects in the work are “Miss Granny, 20 Again”, based on a hit Korean movie with Sarah Geronimo as a grandma who magically regains her youth and becomes a young woman once again, co-starring James Reid and directed by Joyce Bernal. Aside from this, James is also said to be doing a new romance movie with his ka-love team, Nadine Lustre, directed by Antoinette Jadaone, and a remake of “Pedro Penduko”. There is also a new movie tentatively titled “Sid & Aya” currently being shot starring Dingdong Dantes and Anne Curtis.
Meanwhile, Bela Padilla and Carlo Aquino star in “Meet Me in St. Gallen” (shot on location in Switzerland), directed by Irene Villamor of “Camp Sawi” and “Destined to be Yours”. Yassi Pressman is launched to stardom in “Ang Pambansang Third Wheel” opposite Sam Milby, directed by indie filmmaker Ivan Payawal. For Star Cinema, their first offering for 2018 is the comedy “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes” with Judy Ann Santos and Angelica Panganiban in the title roles as two wives who get the shock of their lives when they found out the truth about their respective husbands, Joross Gamboa and JC De Vera. This is written and directed by Jun Lana and is a co-production with his IdeaFirst Company and Quantum Films.
Other Star Cinema projects are “Kasal” with Derek Ramsay and Bea Alonzo, the horror movie “Eerie” directed by Mikhail Red starring Charo Santos and Bea Alonzo, “Panahon ng Halimaw” starring Piolo Pascual and Shaina Magdayao written and directed by Lav Diaz.
