The phenomenal partnership of Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards gave us two of the biggest Filipino films of all time in terms of box office success and critical acclaim, Hello, Love, Goodbye and Hello, Love, Again.
After these behemoth motion pictures, Bernardo and Faulkerson Jr. (Alden’s legal last name) literally parted ways with the former supposedly doing Elena 1944 and a romantic comedy opposite James Reid. Richard (Alden’s birth name) went to directing, producing and hosting. Most of them achieved their successes and the others are still in the shooting or in the post-production stages.
What most people are wondering about is: Will Bernardo’s Elena 1944 still roll and become the historical drama it promised to be? Will Richards, be an effective antagonist as John Lynch in the soon-to-be-released Big Tiger or is he better off if he becomes the Filipino incarnation of Maurice? As for Team MiLi, which is composed of Michael Sager and Emilio Daez, what happens to their tandem now that their career paths are no longer intertwined?
Photographs courtyesy of alden richards/ig and kathrynb bernardo/g
‘Elena 1944’
After showing to her fanatics and public that she can be mean, nasty and vindictive in A Very Good Girl, slipping into the shoes and being of Joy in the box office sensation that was Hello, Love, Again, Bernardo’s career trajectory was on the upcycle and the historical drama Elena 1944 was supposed to be the next big film that would showcase her maturity, emotional depth, vulnerability and “hunger” as an actress.
Everything about the film screams big and of epic proportions as it is set to be the comeback movie of director Olivia Lamasan. The script is based on a Palanca award-winning screenplay by Patrick Valencia, about a comfort woman during the second world war.
As of today, it is still in development and pre-production and principal photography has not begun. Since it is not moving, speculations are high that it is shelved or hibernating in the freezer, so to speak.
The partnership with James Reid, Someone, Someday, with its premise of being a blend of high stakes corporate drama, emotional mystery and exploration of contemporary digital romances, of course, is definitely promising. But at this point in time in Bernardo’s career, an Elena 1944 is the best addition to her filmography.
‘Maurice’
This was a romantic drama, based on EM Forster’s posthumously published novel about two young gentlemen who met at Cambridge University. The first gentleman, Maurice Hall and the second one, Clive Durham, and what happened to them, which is a chaste, explicitly platonic love affair.
The Maurice character, played by James Wilby in the Merchant Ivory Productions film, is the perfect role for Alden if we are to transport the film in a Philippine setting and the time frame, the ilustrado era. Richards is aristocratic-looking, with the demeanor and stance of an ilustrado educated in a prestigious Catholic school in Intramuros where he will meet the Pinoy version of Clive, which Derrick Monasterio could portray.
Directors Louie Ignacio and Zig Dulay were excited about this idea and they see the bigger and better picture. But what they fear is the reality that the network will not allow Richards and Monasterio to play such explosive and intimate characters.
And just like that, an opportunity is lost for Alden. What he has been doing now is boring all of us to tears, and here’s hoping that his character in Big Tiger roars and not just purrs like a kitten.
MiLi
Unlike manufactured love teams, the duo of Michael Sager and Emilio Daez earned and had a surge of instant popularity after their stint inside the Pinoy Big Brother. They became the favorites of many and is being “shipped” as the Philippines’ best bet to BL (boys love) supremacy.
What happened, after a few guestings and being seen in public in their personal capacities and in a handful of showbiz events, the managements of Sager and Daez decided not to strike while the iron is hot, and gave their respective actors projects that did not include the MiLi dynamic duo in the equation.
And their separate projects? Nobody seemed to care, no one talked about them and they never entered the viewing public’s consciousness.
Both young gentlemen said it was agreeable for them to portray characters in a BL genre production. The reality of them being in a BL series has not only become far-fetched, but a lost opportunity that is now gone with the wind.
Still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed, believing that hope truly springs eternal, that in the perfect time, these projects wish lists for Kathryn, Alden, Michael and Emilio would come into fruition.
