Lawyer and producer Atty. Ferdinand Topacio couldn’t hide his disappointment at how Filipino moviegoers patronized the movies led by comedian Vice Ganda.
In a press conference, Topacio the producer of the movie ‘Mamasapano’ said that they spent millions of pesos to create a film that would remind the public about the sacrifice made by the SAF44 during the Mamasapano clash.
The said movie was one of the entries during the last Metro Manila Film Festival, but it didn’t perform well at the box office.
“Gumastos kami ng 33 million para sa ‘Mamasapano’ ang hirap bawiin because of the climate of the local film industry. Dominated kasi ‘yung local industry ng foreign films. Yon ang number one,” said Topacio who owns Borracho films.
“Number two, ‘yung mga movies na walang katuturan. Katulad ng mga movie ni Vice Ganda. ‘Yon ang namamayagpag e,” he added.
According to Topacio, most in-demand movies didn’t contribute to the improvement of the quality of Philippine cinema.
“Ano ba ang naitulong ng mga pelikulang iyon sa pagtaas ng antas ng pelikulang Pilipino? Wala naman e!” he stated.
As of writing, Vice has yet to give any response to the rants made by Topacio.
Vice made several box-office hits including Praybeyt Benjamin, Sisterakas, The Super Parental Guardians, and Fantastica.
All movies earned more than P100-M pesos, compared to the film produced by Topacio, which only achieved P5-M ticket sales.