Is it possible that the film production executives of ABS-CBN and GMA7 are now quietly sounding off each other about which of their major stars can be cross-paired in a story as relatable as the original Hello, Love, Goodbye, which gave birth to the sequel Hello, Love, Again, which has just been proclaimed by ABS-CBN as having overtaken Rewind as the country’s highest-grossing Pinoy movie of all time?

The unquestionable box office success of both the original and the sequel pairing of ABS-CBN’s Kathryn Bernardo with GMA-7’s Alden Richards can serve as a formula for box office triumph in and outside the country. A cross-channel pairing in a storyline as common as those of Hello, Love, Goodbye and its sequel easily cast a spell on Pinoy-moviegoers in the Philippines and in other countries. 

So who are the stars that the film production executives of both camps have quietly tossed to each other as potential top-billers of a movie that can amass so much money from Pinoy fans in the Philippines and abroad? Julie Ann San Jose and Piolo Pascual? Janine Gutierrez and Ruru Madrid? Kyle Echevarri and Barbie Forteza? 

Those brainstorming, scheming executives don’t have to be bothered that they are taking someone’s screen sweetheart from a commercially successful loveteam. Bernardo was still Daniel Padilla’s sweetheart on- and off-camera when she was cross-paired with Richards in Hello, Love, Goodbye. 

The so-called “worldwide” success of Hello, Love, Again does not mean foreigners all over the world now patronize Pinoy films. It’s the overseas Pinoys who made Hello, Love, Again triumph worldwide. 

Some foreigners who don’t speak Filipino and who don’t habitually watch Filipino movies may have watched Hello, Love, Again as intimate companions of Pinoy movie fans. But it is most likely that the number of foreigners who contributed to the P930 million box office revenue of the film during its first  10 days of screening is substantial in Hello, Love, Again’s breaking the record of last year’s Rewind, which ABS-CBN declared to be the highest-ever box office revenue for a Pinoy film at P924 million.

Some quarters have always been uncomfortable that millions of Filipinos have to work in a foreign land to sustain their families in the Philippines. 

Many mothers and fathers who work abroad for years eventually succumb to extra-marital affairs that produce a secret second family in the foreign country where they earn a living. Overseas employment unwittingly contributes to the making of broken homes that eventually yield drug-using youth, widespread teen pregnancies, high rate of HIV infection and AIDS in the country. But, then, we all know that since the 1980s, it’s the remittances of OFWs that keep the Philippine economy afloat. 

Hello, Love, Again is additionally historic for being the highest grossing Pinoy film produced together former rivals ABS-CBN and GMA-7. Rewind was produced by ABS-CBN alone ­­— though its headliners Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes are prize assets of GMA-7. There’s an unwitting cross-company involved in Rewind’s feat as highest-grossing Pinoy film output.

So far, Hello, Love, Again has been shown in Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada, Dubai, Guam and Saipan. 

Hello, Love, Again served as the closing film at the Asian World Film Festival in California. The screening was sold out some days before.

In that closing event, Bernardo was bestowed the Snow Leopard Rising Star award for her passion as an actor.

“It is such an honor to be here, representing my fellow Filipinos and my home network, ABS-CBN,” Bernardo proclaimed. She seems to have forgotten that she was also representing GMA-7 that night as the film’s co-producer. 

She went on: “Thank you so much to the AWFF, my family, my mom — who’s here, my friends, my mentors, and to everyone who has believed in me throughout this journey.

“May we all continue to tell stories that will touch people’s lives.” 

And, oh, Marian Rivera has congratulated Bernardo and Richards for their film’s overwhelming success. Rivera and Dantes have practically vowed that they would never do again another Rewind whose promotion deprived them from going out with their children practically during the entire Christmas season last year.