MANILA, Philippines – The 2024 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) was considered "highly successful" despite having a lower gross than the previous year.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said the festival has now earned over Php 700 million.
MMDA Chairman Rolando Artes said in an interview on Dos Por Dos on Friday, January 10, that film producers had informed him before the festival that it might not surpass the gross sales of previous years.
"Before po nag-start yung festival, sinabihan po ako ng mga producers ng cinemas na more likely hindi namin masusurpass 'yun pong nakaraang taon dahil po ang dami po kasing mga pelikula na naipalabas ngayong taon na 'to na nag-hit," Artes said.
"Kasama na po diyan yung 'Hello, Love, Again' na ₱1.6 billion ang kinita," Artes added.
Artes claims that previous festival had a higher gross because there were few competing blockbuster movies both locally and internationally.
"Masasabi ko pa rin po na highly successful pa rin despite yung mga factors na ganyan, maganda pa rin po yung gross sales," Artes stated.
As the MMFF 2024 was extended until January 14, MMDA is expecting gross sales to reach Php 800 million, a similar gross of 2022 festival.
In last year's MMFF, total earnings were around Php 1.2 billion in two weeks run but a big chunk was due to Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes' "Rewind", which raked in Php 815 million in its domestic box office sales.
MMFF 2024 topgrossers
As of January 14, Vice Ganda's " And The Breadwinner Is..." topped the festival with reported earnings of Php 400 million.
Reports said the second placer in the box-office already earned Php 100M while the 10th slot only earned around Php 4 million.
While there's no official announcement yet of the topgrossers, reports revealed that " The Kingdom", "Espantaho", "Green Bones" and "Uninvited" are the other front-runners in box-office.
Other entries in the MMFF 2024 are "Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital", "Topakk", "Hold Me Close", "My Future You" and "Isang Himala."
In the previous festivals, MMFF committee agreed not to reveal the figures and rankings of the top grossers, leaving it to the prerogative of the producers to do so.
The organizers are also expected to release the official figures and rankings at the end of the festival on January 14.
— The Summit Express
