Instead of Wednesdays, Movies in the Philippines Will Now Open on Fridays
For the longest time, Filipinos have been going to the cinemas on a weekday to catch the first day showing of new movies.
New film releases usually open in local cinemas on Wednesdays, but this will change soon according to Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Chairman Liza Diño-Seguerra.
“We still have to wait until the rest is finalized for this to take effect, but at least we are moving forward,” she said.
Diño-Seguerra shared on her official Facebook account that local cinemas and film producers have agreed to move the opening day of new films to Friday during a dialogue meeting on Wednesday, March 13. Several local producers, distributors, and theater owners attended the consultation.
According to Diño-Seguerra’s post, the FDCP has been in talks with stakeholders and has been consulting with them since last year to come up with better solutions to the problems plaguing the industry.
The response to the move is generally positive. Renowned film Filipino director, screenwriter and producer Erik Matti even commented on the post saying things are about to get better.
“Finally nag-
Diño-Seguerra acknowledged that there has been a lack of a proper venue to discuss the issues, which has caused conflicts between concerned parties time and again.
“But yesterday was a good gauge to see the next hundred years of Philippine cinema. A new beginning perhaps... so we can all be hopeful for the future of this industry,” she said. “At the end of the day, we have but one common goal: to support, nurture and uplift our local film industry."
In February this year, Matti took to social media to air his grievances about the state of the Philippine cinema.
“The film industry is at its busiest the past three years but no one gets to see the movies we make except for the sporadic mega hits. Hundreds of movies are being made now but no one is really doing good business including the big studios,” Matti wrote.
He added: “All I know is, we cannot go on making movies where no one sees them. We cannot keep on spending millions
Equally distinguished directors Mike De Leon and Quark Henares answered Matti's post with their own explanations that same month.
