MANILA, Philippines — Vic Sotto is set to make his return to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) after a five-year hiatus with the announcement of the first batch of entries for the 2024 edition.
Vic will star in Michael Tuviera’s action-drama “The Kingdom” alongside Piolo Pascual, who was featured in last year’s horror film “Mallari.” Vic’s last MMFF appearance was in the 2019 film “Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity” with Maine Mendoza.
Host-comedian Vice Ganda’s comeback movie “And The Breadwinner Is” directed by Jun Robles Lana has also been selected for MMFF 2024. The film will feature Eugene Domingo and Jhong Hilario alongside Vice.
Pepe Diokno, last year’s Best Director for “GomBurZa,” will adapt a film version of “Himala: Isang Musical” with Aicelle Santos reprising her role as Elsa.
The other two films in the first batch of MMFF 2024 entries, based on scripts, are Zig Dulay’s “Green Bones” starring Sofia Pablo and Dennis Trillo, and Kerwin Go’s “Strange Frequencies: Haunted Hospital” starring Jane De Leon and Enrique Gil.
Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Romando Artes confirmed that 39 scripts were submitted for consideration, leading to the decision to include 10 films in competition, as was done last year, instead of the usual eight.
The 10 competing films of MMFF 2023 collectively grossed P1.069 billion, surpassing the previous record set by the 2018 edition. This success was largely attributed to the movie “Rewind” starring Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera, currently the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time.
The 2018 MMFF had a collective box office total of P1.061 billion across nearly 1,200 cinemas. In contrast, the 2023 edition opened in 800 theaters, with several still closed due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal for this year is to open in 900 cinemas.
In celebration of the MMFF’s 50th year in 2024, select past festival entries will be screened for only P50 in several cinemas.