Instead of letting egos get in the way, however, the two actors say they never had a problem working together on Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote, their entry to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
“Wala kaming naging problema sa [We had no problems with the] billing,” says Vic Sotto. “It has never been an issue, nakita ko ang [I saw the] layout, gano’n na. Senator Bong didn’t have a problem with it and neither did I,” Sotto adds.
In the movie poster, Sotto who is more senior than Revilla, comes ahead in the billing but the latter’s character comes first in the title.
Sotto also denied that they had any issues as far as talent fees or production costs. Revilla shares that everything was fair and they never had any arguments: “Pantay kami sa mga scenes, at pati sa share sa production costs, wala kaming pinagtalunan [We had the same number of scenes and shared the production costs. We had no disagreements].”
The movie is being produced by five film companies: GMA Films, Revilla’s Imus Production, OctoArts Films, APT Entertainment and Sotto’s M-Zet Films.
Asked why they were able work together so seamlessly, Sotto says it was because they had a com-mon goal in doing the movie. He says the most important thing for the two of them was to create a great movie that everyone would enjoy watching.
For the past several years, it has always been these two actors’ movies that have dominated the MMFF box office, and now that they are working together, everyone is expecting their film to be this year’s top-grosser.
When asked if he was confident that their movie would be No.1, Sotto replied, “Confident na magiging matagumpay [that we will succeed], but we’re not that conscious about it. Hindi namin iniisip na kelangan maging [We don’t think of the need to become] number one or [the] top-grosser. “Ang gusto namin ni Senator Bong [what we want], is for this to become the record-breaking festival. All of the entries are good so we are hoping that this will be the biggest-grossing Metro Manila Film Festival,” he says, adding “at maka-sama lang kami ni Senator Bong doon, ayos na [and just for us to be part of it is good enough for us].”
Revilla says working with Vic was already a huge honor, and he certainly has no regrets working with him. “Before, every time we would run into each other, we’ll say ‘gawa tayo ng pelikula [let’s make a movie],’ but it was nothing serious until finally, this year we decided it was time to really do it.”
Revilla and Sotto’s pairing also breathes new life and opens up new possibilities to both movie fran-chises. Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote features the magical crossover of Agimat, a character inspired by the original Pepeng Agimat classic, to the earthly world of Enteng Kabisote.
While fulfilling his quest of vanquishing dangerous monsters, Agimat was unexpectedly led to the portals of Encantadia, where he meets Enteng, a low-profile do-it-yourself technician married to a beautiful fairy princess.
As Enteng and Agimat face several challenges in the Black Forest, the two are forced to combine their brains and brawns in order to destroy the wicked Satana, while battling zombies, snakes and other treacherous creatures along the way.
The movie makes full use of Sotto’s humor and Revilla’s trade-mark action stunts to give the viewers everything they want in a single movie. Sotto says he even did several action sequences and tells viewers to watch out for the grand finale of the movie.
Joining Revilla and Sotto are some of today’s most promising stars: Gwen Zamora as Faye, Enteng’s wife; and Sam Pinto as Samara, the audacious heroine from Agimat’s homeland of Mahapay. Rounding up the cast are Amy Perez (Ina Magenta); Bing
Loyzaga as Satana; Aiza Seguerra (Aiza), Oyo Boy Sotto (Benok), Ruby Rodriguez, Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola, Ellen Adarna, Benjie Paras, Barbie Forteza, Joshua Dionisio, Jake Vargas, Bea Binene and Jillian Ward.
Directed by Tony Reyes, Si Agimat at Si Enteng was shot entirely in high-definition (HD) using the latest, state-of-the art Arri D21 Digital camera, and post processed using the most sophisticated editing technology.
Revilla, whose movies have been known to push the technical capabilities of local filmmaking, says aside from the movie’s grand sets and location, he is also proud of how the movie was shot in full HD. Asked if they plan to do a possible sequel be shot in 3D? Revilla answered, “That will come—we’ll try—it’s a surprise . . . so you have to see the movie.”