Here’s someone who knows how to look on the bright side of life.
Coco Martin admitted he was saddened after his movie, The Super Parental Guardians, did not make it an official entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
But the ABS-CBN actor, who had box office hit entries in the MMFF in 2014 and 2015, thinks the snub may actually be a blessing for his movie.
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“Honestly, palagay ko mas na-bless kami sa playdate (Honestly, I feel we were blessed with this playdate.),” he said during a press conference on Sun, Nov 27.
The Super Parental Guardians, which also stars Vice Ganda, will open in theaters on Wed, Nov 30 — almost a month before the start of the MMFF on Christmas Day, Dec 25. It helps that their opening date is also a national holiday.
Vic Sotto’s Enteng Kabisote and the Abangers will also open on Nov 30, so showbiz insiders and fans are saying that there’s a “mini film fest” that’s happening before the MMFF.
“Pakiramdam ko, kung may nagsara sa atin ng pinto, at least may nagbukas sa atin ng bintana. Baka nag gate pa. Kaya sobrang excited ako para sa pelikula namin,” Coco added.
(I feel like even if a door closed on us, at least there’s a window of opportunity that opened. Maybe the opportunity that opened is as big as gate. That’s why I’m excited for our movie.)
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Coco said he does not mind competing with Vic’s Enteng Kabisote and the Abangers on Nov 30. He feels having two MMFF “rejects” opening on the same day might actually be beneficial.
“Deep inside, feeling namin nasa film fest kami, ibang playdate nga lang. Pakiramdam ng taong manonood, ‘Hindi, ito na yun, Pasko na, e.'”
(Deep inside, we feel like we’re part of the film fest, just on a different playdate. The people who will watch may feel, ‘No, this is it, it’s already Christmas.)
He even has big expectations for The Super Parental Guidance in terms of box office, even if the movie is no longer part of the MMFF. Coco hopes that his movie this year will surpass the box office gross of his MMFF 2015 entry Beauty and the Bestie, which also stars Vice Ganda.
That movie reportedly earned more than P520 million and is considered as the highest grossing Filipino movie of all time.
“Nung ginagawa namin ito, napagusapan namin na definitely (gusto namin) na sana mahigitan pa namin yung nagawa namin last year,” he said.
(We we did this, we were saying that definitely we want this to hopefully surpass what we have done last year.)
Despite the snub, Coco still wants to give MMFF a try next year. He saw the exclusion as an opportunity to learn, to make better movies.
“Maaaring this time, hindi siguro natugma yung konseptong ginawa namin. Pero hindi kami nawawalan ng pagasa. Malay natin, next year, mag-try ulit kaming sumubok. And then, baka pagkakataon na ‘yun, baka matanggap kami ulit,” he said.
READ: Tito Sotto thinks MMFF won’t make a lot of money in the box office this year
READ: After snub, Vic Sotto says: ‘I hope MMFF respected the taste of Pinoy moviegoers’
(Maybe this year, our concept did not match what the MMFF is looking for. But we are not losing hope. Maybe next year, we’ll try again. And then, maybe our movie will be chosen again.)
Coco also said, “Next time, babawi po kami.
(We’ll do better next time)
It’s good to know not everyone is bitter about the changes in this year’s MMFF.
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