Is cinema dying?

My Love Will Make You Disappear grossed P12 million on opening day (26 March). It’s an encouraging figure at a time when the movie-going public seems to have stopped going to cinemas.

This Kim Chiu-Paulo Avelino film is also the first local picture to have earned money this 2025. It’s rather late in the year, but it’s still a good sign: there’s hope for Philippine cinema to get back on its feet.

What can’t be denied is the change in cinematic landscape in the past decade or so. There are several factors that brought local movies to the brink of death. Of course, the primary reason is economics. At P300, P400 or so per ticket (minus the popcorn), who can still afford to go to the movies?

There’s also piracy that somehow can’t be contained. That’s the cancer that’s really killing the movies.

Netflix (and the other streaming services) is a double-edged sword. While a lot of movie aficionados now often wait for movies to come out on Netflix instead of watching during the actual theater run, this platform has also become an additional source of income for film producers. In fact, there are movies that are created only for Netflix and that still helps the industry stay alive.

The movie scene has changed so dramatically that no one can tell anymore what is the best time of the year to release a film. Christmas used to be the choice play date.

When the first Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) rolled around, it was during the last two weeks of September 1975. The following year, officials of the MMFF were able to wrest away the Christmas play date from the distributors of Hollywood movies. Oh, what a real merry Christmas that was for the Philippine movie industry.

That was one of the reasons 1976 is considered a golden age in Philippine cinema — what with films like Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon, Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo and Insiang as part of the MMFF showcase. This same success was repeated in the 1982 filmfest when moviegoers trooped to cinemas to watch Himala, Moral and Haplos during the holiday season.

But in 1983, distributors of foreign films wanted the December play date back. Very few still remember this (or most likely, they’re no longer around), but that was one of the crises (aside from censorship) that local film producers faced that year.

Like bratty children whose lollipops had been taken away, the foreign film distributors even threatened not to exhibit Hollywood flicks in movie houses in the Philippines anymore if their demand wasn’t granted. Who were they kidding? That was going to be less income for them.

Besides, Betamax was at its peak then. Copies of foreign movies flooded video shops around that period — with the Virra Mall store of now National Artist Ricky Lee having the most extensive titles.

Thankfully, the industry leaders in that era, led by Marichu P. Maceda and Armida Siguion-Reyna, had Malacanang for their playground. They were able to convince then Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos to help the MMFF keep the Christmas play date. Filipino movies went on to make a killing at the tills during the holiday season.

Alarmingly though, the 2024 Metro Filmfest had a dismal performance at the box-office. And it had to happen during the MMFF golden year.

Where are the fans?

In the more recent past, 4 January also proved to be a good play date for films. By then, those from the provinces had returned to the city after the holidays and were aching to watch movies. This was at a time when the MMFF entries were only shown in Metro Manila and not nationwide like the way it is done these days.

A few years ago, the MMFF was extended till 7 January. Ideally, 8 January would have been a good time to exhibit a fresh batch of films. Except for a few Hollywood blockbusters, however, most movies now play to empty theaters during this early part of the year.

Even Valentine offerings are now ignored by moviegoers. A huge disappointment last February was the reunion movie of Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin — Ex-ex Lovers. Where did all their fans go?

Another ideal play date used to be early June. This was when students from the provinces returned to Manila after the summer vacation and longed to watch movies. That had not been happening anymore in the past few years.

Was this the result of the change in school calendars? Or maybe people really don’t go to the movies anymore.

So, why is My Love Will Make You Disappear making money today? Pure luck?

Showbiz observers attribute the box-office success of the movie to the promotional efforts of Star Cinema — with lead stars Kim Chiu and Paulo Avelino giving their full cooperation during the promo period. Oh, they were all over — asking the public to please, please patronize their movie.

The series of block screenings organized by their fans also helped boost the box-office performance of My Love Will Make You Disappear. Those are guaranteed sources of income for the movie.

Lately, it had also been a practice among local producers to exhibit Philippine film products in various parts of the globe, especially in areas where there are large Filipino communities. The OFWs or Overseas Filipino Workers are truly modern-day heroes. They are even able to extend help to an ailing industry — like the Filipino movie business.

What happened?

But why is everyone saying that the local movie industry is dying? The truth is — even as early 1965, the death knell had already been ringing for Tagalog pictures. Film producers in those days had threatened to stop making movies due to the onerous taxes — some 32 percent in total — imposed by the government.

Around that time, there was also a move to ban standees in movie houses. That was for safety reasons since there had been incidents of stampedes where people got hurt and even died.

Local film producers lobbied against that ordinance sponsored by a councilor from Manila and got their way. So, for the next four decades, moviegoers were again packed like sardines inside cinemas.

But all that changed in this new millennium. It is now more comfortable to watch movies — thanks to the reserved seats only policy being enforced at the moment by movie theaters.

Sadly, even with the comfort and safety offered by cinemas today, moviegoers still stay away. What happened?

The 1994 Manila Film Festival scandal could have played a part in this crisis currently faced by the local film industry. Remember the “take it, take it” episode? After that incident, the public began to lose interest and even respect for Filipino movies.

Is it really dying?

Action superstars should also take the blame. Some of them became greedy and began demanding for the auxiliary rights from film producers. The investors could have made more money by showing the movies on television and putting these on video after the theatrical run.

But all that went to the action superstar, leaving very little to the producer, who could have bankrolled more film projects with the income from the movies they produced. No wonder it was the action genre that was the first to go out of fashion.

In a public statement issued last week, actor-director Joel Lamangan expressed his worry about how Filipino movies will just one day conk out. He said that writers, directors and actors will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). There really is cause for worry among movie workers. However, even if filmmakers are replaced by Artificial Intelligence, there will still be motion pictures to watch.

But is the Filipino movie industry truly dead — or dying? It’s not in the pinkest of health, but it’s still around — what with film production outfits shelling out P13 to 15 million per project. Contrary to what most people say, the movies (yes, even Filipino movies) will continue to hang on — maybe just in another form.

Cinema continues to evolve, after all. From celluloid, filmmakers have now gone digital. And from the habit of watching films in movie theaters, most film lovers are now into streaming service.

Like dance, music, architecture, painting, literature and sculpture, this 20th century art form will live on.