The casting coup of Sharon Cuneta and Alden Richards as headliners in the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival entry A Family of Two easily catapults CineKo Productions to being a major player in the Philippine film industry. 

More so if the entry would outperform in the box office the other MMFF entries topbilled by the couple Dingdong Dantes-Marian Rivera, the time-tested tandem of Vilma Santos-Christopher de Leon, the remarkably handsome and seasoned actor Piolo Pascual, and Matteo Guidicelli whose movie is produced by Viva Films. 

Cuneta's talent fee as an actor is certainly not paltry. It can probably fund two to three indie films budgeted at P2 million to P3 million only. Cuneta's fee is surely higher than Richards', who also commands a considerable figure considering his stature in the industry. 

On the sidelines of the media conference for the movie, we cornered the film's quite genial director, Nuel Naval, and told him, "Ang yaman ng producer (Enrico Rowue, the mayor of the little town of Pandi in Bulacan) n'yo. Na-afford  n'ya sina Sharon at Alden!"

Big-time businessman

Naval said Roque wasn't bothered about the fees of his lead stars. Roque was already a big-time businessman in Pandi before he was elected mayor there in 2010, owning a chain of appliance stores and Amana Water Park, a huge resort for which Pandi has become well-known.

Roque is a warm, chummy guy who loves watching movies, which led him to go into the filmmaking business when he was already a town mayor.

CineKo's 2023 production funds were invested not only in A Family of  Two but also in three co-productions beginning as early as February. 

The first one was 10 Little Mistresses, a comedy-thriller inspired by an Agatha Christie opus. It's about a wealthy widower (John Arcilla) who one fine day gathered 10 of his mistresses for a grand party but ended up being murdered by one of them. 

The mistresses were played by Pokwang, Agot Isidro, Kris Bernal, Arci Munoz, Adrianna So, Kate Alejandrino, Sharlene San Pedro, Christian Bables (as a transwoman) and Iana Bernardez. Jun Lana directed the film from his own script.