‘The Hopeful Romantic’ trailer goes viral

Senator Grace Poe just celebrated her 509th birthday and it was sponsored by her mom, eternal movie queen Ms. Susan Roces. In her speech, Sen. Poe thanked “Ang Probinsiyano” (the top-rating program of ABS-CBN) starring Coco Martin for giving her mom a job.

Martin Nievera sang the opening number in the program. The Concert King arrived in the morning just to be sure he will be in the party that night.

 Other well-wishers of Sen. Poe included Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez, Carmina Villarroel and Zoren Legaspi, and Lovi Poe, among others.

 Coco made sure the taping of “Ang Probinsiyano”  will be finished early so he could attend. He was with former senator Lito Lapid and Mark Lapid. They all came from the taping of “Ang Probinsiyano.”

 Other well-wishers were Charo Santos-Concio, Carlo Katigbak, Eric Quizon, Tito Sotto and Helen Gamboa.

 Brian, the eldest son of Sen. Grace, came from home from New York to attend the party. According to talent manager Shirley Kuan, the video clips made were truly fabulous, and this included the wedding of FPJ and Susan Roces. Also in the video were baby pictures of the senator.

 It was a big event attended by bigwigs from showbiz and politics. To Senator Grace, many happy returns of the day!

***

The official trailer of the upcoming sexy romantic comedy film, “The Hopeful Romantic” has gone viral as it has reached a remarkable 9.6 million views on Facebook in less than three weeks since it was launched.

 If anything, the virality of the trailer to organic Facebook users indicates a positive reception from netizens. As of today, the trailer has now reached 108,000 shares, 14,000 positive comments on Good Time Fan Page.

 Starring theatre/TV/movie actor Pepe Herrera and actress Ritz Azul, “The Hopeful Romantic” offers not just an entertaining love story, but also aims to impart an important lesson about love.

 Ritz, who gets to be launched in this film as a leading lady, beams with pride about this project.

 The actress had to face a lot of challengers for this movie.

 First, Ritz, who is more comfortable with drama, ventures into comedy in “The Hopeful Romantic.”

 Second, she had to lose weight to effectively portray her role as a sexy gold digger.

 “Ang mahirap lang for me, physically, dapat medyo mukhang sexy doon sa screen, so nag-struggle din ako to lose weight, kasi sobrang lumaki ako for a while before gawin yung movie,” the actress said.

 “And then nahirapan ako kasi sobrang kabaligtaran ko ang role sa totoong buhay. Naging kumportable ako sa mga katrabaho ko, kaya napa-swimsuit ako.”

 Meantime, Pepe, who is a very talented singer-actor, finally gets to be a lead star in this film.

 The versatile actor takes pride in saying that he gets to explore the comedy genre through a sexy movie.

 Pepe admits that he feels pressure at finally being a leading man in this project.

 Ritz, on the other hand, is happy to learn important lessons from Pepe as an actor.

 “Sobrang gaan katrabaho ni Pepe. Sobrang professional. Tsaka parang nung nagsu-shoot kami, merong connection. Habang nandon kami sa characters namin, minsan kahit mata lang, nag-uusap na. Ang pinakanatutunan ko sa kanya, hindi siya titigil sa take, kahit paulit-ulit pa yan para mapaganda yung scene,” she said.

 In “The Hopeful Romantic,” Pepe plays Jess, a 33-year-old Valet Parking Attendant at The Manila Hotel. He is an honest man and most of all, a virgin. He promised himself that he will only give himself when he already finds his true love.

 Veronica, played by Ritz, is a kept woman in high society. A victim of circumstances, but still a survivor.

 Jess meets Veronica at the hotel bar. Instantly, he gets mesmerized by her presence. One thing leads to another, and Veronica gave Jess the “first time.” Jess, believing in the magic of what happened between them, decides that Veronica is his one true love.

 However, there is one problem; Veronica has no idea that he is not rich. Afraid that revealing himself will make him lose Veronica, Jess starts to pretend the part. He keeps on doing this until his resources spill away. The inevitable happens, and Veronica learns the truth about Jess.

 “The Hopeful Romantic” opens September 12 in cinemas nationwide. The funniest romantic film of the season is directed by Topel Lee.