In their romantic drama film “Hello,
Love, Goodbye,” which premiered at the end of July, Star Cinema and by
extension ABS-CBN have hit upon a perfect storm of popular entertainment power.
There was the lead tandem, an improvised pairing of Kapamilya Kathryn Bernardo
and Kapuso Alden Richards. There is the relatable story setting of OFW life in
Hong Kong. Then there was the multimedia promo blitz such as a novel adaptation
with additional story chapters and epilogue. All of these contributed to a box
office explosion unlike anything ever seen in Philippine cinema. And it is
true, because the movie has indeed broken the record.
ABS-CBN News reports that in over a month of theatrical showing in
local and international cinemas, Star Cinema’s “Hello, Love, Goodbye” has
finally become the highest grossing Philippine movie of all time. The studio’s
box office tracking has taken notice that, as of Tuesday, September 3, the
Kahtryn-Alden romantic drama starrer has earned P880,603,490 combined from
domestic and overseas screenings. It was no wonder then that ABS-CBN held a thanksgiving
event that Tuesday with the network leadership joining the creative and
production posses, as well as the film’s main cast.
This triumph in particular is
definitive proof that the star-director dynamic between Kathryn and Cathy
Garcia-Molina is a nigh-unbeatable combination. It should be recalled that the
two worked together last year as well, for “The Hows of Us” where Bernardo
costarred with her default partner and real-life boyfriend Daniel Padilla. That
film had been considered the all-time highest-grossing Filipino movie as of
2018, after its combined Philippine-world gross added up to just over P800 million.
This time, they project ended up hitting the sun while aiming for the moon, as
it were, with the figure closer to crossing P900 million. Thus, actress and
director together now hold the distinction of having more than one all-time
blockbuster on their respective filmographies.
“Hello, Love, Goodbye” is indeed
now being seen as another landmark achievement in Philippine cinema industry,
as well as the fan community. There was little real friction between the fans
of the default “Kath-Niel” and “Al-Dub” fans that were near-universally
supportive of the “Kath-Den” this time around. Of course, such an epic
undertaking like this film can take a toll. While some viewers are interested
in a sequel, especially following the book version, that might time a while as
director Cathy Garcia-Molina has announced a break for personal reasons after
completing two more Star Cinema projects coming up sometime soon.
Image from Star Cinema Instagram
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