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MMFF 2016 meets 'new' target for opening day

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">LOOK: Here&#x27;s the crowd situation here at SM North Edsa. <a href="https://t.co/BUVwNQnsrv">pic.twitter.com/BUVwNQnsrv</a></p>— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) <a href="https://twitter.com/mjfelipe/status/812919272196358145">December 25, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p>MANILA - This year&#x27;s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has reached the gross revenue target which it set for its opening day on December 25.</p><p>In a statement released Monday, the executive committee of this year&#x27;s MMFF said the first-day ticket sales target was reached although it did not release actual box-office figures.</p><p>&quot;We have re-assessed and set a new benchmark for this festival,&quot; the statement said, noting that it sees the box-office gross for the first day &quot;as a real bonus as we have already achieved what we started out to in the first place which is the cultural advancement through our Filipino films.&quot;</p><p>&quot;You cannot put a price at something which the future generations of Filipinos will find priceless and ageless,&quot; the statement added.</p><div><strong>Top earners</strong></div><p>It did, however, reveal the top four earners (in alphabetical order) on opening day: &quot;Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,&quot; &quot;Die Beautiful,&quot; &quot;Seklusyon&quot; and &quot;Vince and Kath and James.&quot;</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="7" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:37.5% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BOeN8qjA7Nr/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A photo posted by STAR Cinema (@starcinema)</a> on <time dateTime="2016-12-26T07:34:51+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Dec 25, 2016 at 11:34pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="http://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Erik Matti&#x27;s horror film &quot;Seklusyon&quot; follows a young deacon as he, along with others, are sent to a holy sanctuary to hide from the devil seven days before they became ordained as priests.</p><p>&quot;Die Beautiful,&quot; directed by Jun Robles Lana, follows the story of a transgender woman, portrayed by Paolo Ballesteros.</p><p>Meanwhile, &quot;Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,&quot; a sequel to the comedy box-office hit &quot;Ang Babae sa Septic Tank,&quot; takes aim at the tropes that plague the country&#x27;s local romantic comedy genre. </p><p>Teen romance film &quot;Vince and Kath and James&quot; is an adaptation of an online series, which went viral, that told the story of two lovestruck teens, Vince and Kath, through text messages.</p><p>Last year, the eight MMFF entries earned P150 million on opening day led by Star Cinema&#x27;s &quot;Beauty and the Bestie&quot; starring Vice Ganda and Coco Martin, and Vic Sotto&#x27;s &quot;My Bebe Love.&quot;</p><p>This year&#x27;s entries were selected based on the following criteria: story, audience appeal and overall impact (40%); cinematic attributes or technical expertise (40%); global appeal (10%); and Filipino sensibility (10%).</p><div><strong>Obstacles</strong></div><p>The other <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/11/18/16/here-are-the-films-competing-in-mmff-2016">entries</a> in the 2016 edition of the annual festival are the quirky-romantic drama &quot;Saving Sally&quot;; &quot;Sunday Beauty Queen,&quot; a documentary on the lives of Filipino domestic workers residing in Hong Kong; Nora Aunor&#x27;s &quot;Kabisera&quot;; and &quot;Oro&quot; with Irma Adlawan.</p><p>This year&#x27;s MMFF became controversial following the exclusion of Regal Film&#x27;s &quot;Mano Po 7,&quot; Vice Ganda&#x27;s &quot;The Super Parental Guardians,&quot; and Vic Sotto&#x27;s &quot;Enteng Kabisote.&quot; </p><ul class="op-related-articles" title="Read">	<li><strong>READ: </strong> <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/v2/12/02/16/watch-trailers-of-all-mmff-2016-entries">WATCH: Trailers of all MMFF 2016 entries</a></li></ul><p>Meanwhile, Liza Diño, chairperson of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, said in Facebook post that the executive committee is happy that a lot of people still patronize local movies.</p><p>“Since this is a new edition of MMFF, the executive committee set a new target for the festival&#x27;s gross revenue and I am happy to say that our films were able to meet our expectations,” she wrote on <a href="http://https://www.facebook.com/lizadino/posts/10154467253279335">Facebook</a> on Monday.</p><p>“Despite the obstacles -- brownout, bagyo, batikos at kung Anu-ano pa -- we thrived and rose above these challenges! Congratulations sa ating 8 entries! Ito ang simula ng panibagong yugto ng pagtangkilik sa pelikulang Pilipino,” she wrote.</p>

<p>The executive committee of this year's MMFF revealed the top four earners on opening day.</p>

The executive committee of this year's MMFF revealed the top four earners on opening day.