Actor and fashion icon Heart Evangelista is not slated to do an international film titled Infamous 6. She doesn't have to do it. Because she did it already in 2020 before Covid-19 came along.
Its director, Anthony Hickox, died in Romania in October 2023. His wife was Romanian and he moved there with her before the pandemic's full-blast attack.
We learned all these by checking out through Google about the movie the day several newspapers ran the story about Heart being all set to appear in an international film. All Internet entries about the film clearly indicate that the film was produced in 2020.
One of the news items published gleefully: “Heart confirmed she was set to appear in the upcoming Anthony Hickox film by sharing a still on her Instagram story.
“A teaser for the movie was also shown at the recently concluded Toycon 2024 held in SMX Convention Center in Pasay.” Hickox made about 10 movies in his lifetime. Infamous 6 is not his most, most famous film as it has never been screened commercially. His most well-known is the ‘80s cult classic Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat. It is unknown if he passed on from Covid-19. We didn’t find any report on the Internet about the specific cause of his demise. In the cast of Infamous 6, along with Heart are Lorena Andrea from Warrior Nun and The Little Mermaid, Emmy winner Armand Assante, Alana Boden from Uncharted, Jemma Dallender, Alexandre Nguyen, Keli Price and British-Filipino Ocean Navarro. There are also no Internet reports about what company will release the movie in the Philippines and elsewhere.
He was a no-show at the media conference for his film Kuman Thong. Ditto for his admitted new girlfriend, Iris Lee.
The “he” we’re referring to is Xian Lim, the actor who directed Viva Films’ next theaters release after the now-showing Karma. Lee is the executive producer of the movie shot mainly in Thailand. The twosome flew there to shoot the film, along with the Pinoy main actors.
Viva Films could have requested Lee to go to the media huddle not even as a mere proxy for her brilliant and dashing boyfriend but as the legitimate production chief of the film.
Only two out of five main stars of the movie turned up for the huddle at Viva Cafe in Cubao, QC, namely, Cindy Miranda and child actor Althea Ruedas. Happily, both were engagingly articulate.
The other main actors are Mat Nattapol Diloknawarit, Jariya Therakaosal and newcomer child actor Emman Esquivel.
Diloknawarit and Therakaosal are Thais and it’s easy to understand why they couldn’t be in the media-con, though Diloknawarit may turn up at the film’s premiere night on 2 July (the movie opens in theaters 3 July).
Shared Miranda at the huddle about Kuman Thong: “It’s meant to be a horror film, but it’s not a typical one. It has many dramatic scenes.”
The former Miss Tourism Philippines and pioneer Vivamax star portrays the would-be wife of a Thai though she already has two children from a previous relationship. The Thai (portrayed by Diloknawarit) is very willing to marry her but his mother (Therakaisal) objected to it when she discovers that her would-be daughter-in-law brought with her the urn of the ashes of her dead son (Esquivel).
The Pinay would-be wife has heard that in Thailand, there’s a way to bring back a dead young son through some rituals that involve the creation of a doll that looks like the dead boy. The doll has to be wrapped in goldleaf, kept somewhere in the house, and offered gifts and luxuries as if he were alive, though he is expected to come alive, and bring so much fortune and comfort to the family.
Kuman Thong is Thai for “golden boy,” according to Miranda, who must have been previously briefed by Lim who also wrote the story. The movie has a lot of first-time Thai actors and it is amazing that Lim was able to direct them even if they don’t speak English at all and they seem to be not professional actors at all. Miranda stressed that only Diloknawarit can speak English among the Thais in the cast.
Miranda is well-pleased with her dramatic and supposedly frightening scenes in Kuman Thong. After all, the movie liberates her from all the disrobing and simulated sex she did as a Vivamax star. (Viva has also assigned her a role in the TV 5 series Lumuhod Ka sa Lupa, which Viva co-produces for the network.)
In a previous media interview, Lim told some journos that he based the script he wrote on some folk tales in Thailand. However, there was nothing in the interview that indicates how he chanced upon that folk tale. The actor though easily projects the impression that he is widely read since the time he directed his first film, Tabon, an entry in Cinemalaya 2019. Tabon was also a horror film with some local color.
Child actor Ruedas portrays Miranda’s surviving daughter. She was a hit as the lead actor in the Netflix Pinoy film Doll House, alongside Baron Geisler. They portrayed father and daughter.
Lim seems to be well-favored at Viva, his home studio for years now. Viva Films decided to release Kuman Thong only a few weeks after Playtime, where he is the lead actor in the role of a suave guy who is actually a serial killer of women who are easily charmed by looks and sweet manners of very virile men. Well, the movie is reportedly a flop, according to the Troika columnists in PEP.ph website. That’s despite good reviews from independent film critics. Playtime was a co-production of Viva Films and GMA Pictures.
Lim also seems to be well-esteemed by Kapuso network executives. If they are not producing a film for him, they put up series for the actor. His last series at GMA 7 was Love. Die. Repeat. which aired during the first quarter of this year. He was teamed up with Jennylyn Mercado and Mike Tan. In 2023, he had Hearts on Ice with Ashley Ortega.
Lim must have surely received so much caring support from Lee during the production. Miranda said at the media-con that the couple were always in a huddle in Thailand and in the Philippines during the shoot.
Lim seems to be the boy wonder of Pinoy showbiz these days. Let’s be prepared to be amazed by Kuman Thong. Or be disgusted.