MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2024 has reached its P800-million target gross sales, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.
MMDA Chair and concurrent MMFF overall Chairman Atty. Romando Don Artes said the golden edition of MMFF has leveled up the standards of the annual festival in terms of quality of entries, inclusivity, the revival of the Student Short Film Festival with the FDCP, education, promotions, subsidy for block screenings and talk back sessions, even the trophy, the awards, the parade and the general conduct of activities.
"The MMFF would like to thank all the stakeholders and the public for making its 50th edition one for the books."
MMDA said the top three films based on gross sales receipts, in alphabetical order, were Vice Ganda’s “And the Breadwinner Is…,” best picture “Green Bones,” and “The Kingdom” starring Vic Sotto and Piolo Pascual.
On January 15, Star Cinema announced that "And The Breadwinner Is" has earned Php 400 million in local box-office as of Tuesday, January 14.
"Green Bones" climbed to the no. 2 spot from fifth or sixth place initial ranking. It gained momentum due to word-of-mouth campaigns and after earning top awards in the MMFF 'Gabi ng Parangal.'
"Unbelievably, after starting near the bottom … we climbed to the no. 2 spot. Thank you to everyone who spent their hard earned Christmas money to watch Green Bones and our MMFF batchmates," GMA Pictures Executive Vice President Nessa Vadellon said.
Film outfits of Green Bones and The Kingdom are yet to announce the figures of their earnings.
"Rest assured that the MMFF will continue all efforts by encouraging our stakeholders, especially the local entertainment industry, to create quality films. The key to our success is in collaborating, helping and supporting each other instead of fuelling divisiveness, coming out with unsubstantiated claims, and sweeping judgments,” said Artes.
“We did our best to give the public the best edition of the MMFF for its Golden Year. There are lessons to be learned, but we acknowledge the great effort and sacrifice given by the ones who were part of this milestone festival. It was a success as it upped the standards from the previous MMFFs, and by saying so, we redefined our indicators beyond box office returns, which is worthy of another study, moving forward," Artes emphasized.
The other entries that participated in MMFF 2024 are “Espantaho,” “Hold Me Close,” “Isang Himala: The Musical,” “”My Future You,” “Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Hospital Killer,” “Topakk,” and “Uninvited.”
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.
— The Summit Express
