After 3-year delay, MMFF’s first summer edition pushes through in April
After the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) was declared a “certified box-office hit,” the inaugural summer edition is finally pushing through this 2023.
On Monday, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced that the latest edition of MMFF reached its box-office target of P500 million gross sales.
“We are delighted to announce that we were able to reach our target gross sales amounting to P500 million considering that we are still recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, the 2022 MMFF is a certified box-office hit,” said lawyer Romando “Don” Artes, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and MMFF overall chairman in an official statement.
Artes, on the other hand, mentioned the exact amount of P501 million in ticket sales during a separate presscon on Monday at the MMDA office in Mandaluyong.
He added that it was a feat considering the MMFF, which resumed its fully theatrical run after two years of the pandemic, screened in less than 700 theaters compared to the pre-pandemic number of 1,000. With the theme Balik Saya, all the eight film entries were shown in cinemas nationwide from Christmas Day, Dec. 25 up to last Friday, Jan. 7. It’s now being extended until Jan. 13.
Based on gross sales receipts, Artes also bared the Top 4 MMFF films, which are, in alphabetical order: Deleter, Family Matters, Labyu with an Accent, and Partners in Crime.
No exact figures were furnished to the press although the director of Deleter, Mikhail Red, posted on his social media pages last Sunday: “Our R-rated horror film is the Best Picture winner and No. 1 at the box-office this MMFF 2022. Thank you to everyone for making this possible.”
Apart from Best Picture, the film took home most of the major awards during the Gabi ng Parangal last Dec. 27 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City, including Best Director and Best Actress for Nadine Lustre.
Following the successful turnout at the latest MMFF, the MMFF executive committee formally approved the launch of the inaugural MMFF summer edition in April, after a three-year delay due to the pandemic. This movie industry event will be in partnership with Cinema Exhibitors Association of the Philippines (CEAP).
According to MMFF spokesperson Noel Ferrer, the success of the 2022 edition served as the impetus for the summer filmfest to happen this year.
“Remember (in 2020), we were supposed to have it already — with official entries — but COVID came,” Ferrer said.
“This is to continue the gains from the Yuletide MMFF and continue the support of the general public and the producers to watch films again in the moviehouse.”
The CEAP, he added, is co-sponsoring the summer festival “as the cinemas are the hardest hit during the pandemic.”
“Now that the audiences have gone back to the theaters, let’s catch them where they are at. Let us keep the momentum,” he added.
Meanwhile, based on the 2023 MMFF festival calendar guidelines, the festival will only accept finished films. The deadline of required documents, including the official trailer, clippings and behind the scenes, will be on Jan. 31 to Feb. 17. The eight official entries will be revealed on Feb. 24.
The Parade of Stars for the MMFF summer festival will take place on April 1, while the awards night will be held on April 11.
Officially called the Metro Manila Summer Film Festival, it will run for an 11-day period, from April 8 (Black Saturday) to April 18, in theaters nationwide. Just like the 48th MMFF, the summer edition will be hosted by Quezon City under Mayor Joy Belmonte.
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