Three Local Films That Flopped Dismally At The Box Office

Bato the movie

THREE LOCAL FILMS that opened last Wednesday are all doing badly at the box office: “Bato, the Movie”, “Ang Sikreto ng Piso” and “Tol”. Two of them were quickly pulled out of the theaters after the opening day and their screenings were just scheduled on a staggered basis with Hollywood films.

It’s really sad, but what do you expect?  They kept the filming of “Bato, the Movie” a secret all throughout it’s shooting then, about a week before its opening, they had a big presscon at Regal but that’s obviously not enough to foster public awareness about the movie even if it topbills a big action star like Robin Padilla.

The same can be said about “Sikreto ng Piso” which had a big presscon just about a week before the movie’s playdate, and “Tol”, which had a very small presscon where only a few press people were invited. Nagtipid sila sa budget for the  promo, ayan, walang nanood. Mas lugi sila.

Sikreto Ng Piso

But those who are against “Bato, The Movie” should not gloat and claim that it flopped because they called for a boycott. Even if there was no boycott, we doubt if it would still attract people at the theaters. So many people have asked us: “May ganyan palang pelikula?”  It shows they’re not at all aware that such a movie is being made. Inililihim kasi nila. Serves them right.

But even Hollywood releases are not doing well at the box office.This includes “Instant Family” with Mark Wahlberg, “The Mule” written and directed by THE Clint Eastwood (in fairness, it’s worth watching, about an 80-year old man who becomes a drug mule), “The Upside” with Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston, “Second Act” with Jennifer Lopez and “Then Came You” with Asa Butterfield. All of them are also being shown in nearly empty theaters.

Tol 

This can only mean that people are in NO mood to watch movies in theaters. Some of them would rather watch on Netflix that shows new original movies some of which are even better than those being shown in theaters now and you don’t even have to dress up as you can watch right in the comfort of your own homes. And also, you avoid getting stuck in heavy tarffic going to and from the mall theatres.

We’ve just seen two hardhitting action flicks on Netflix that we highly recommend: “Close” with Swedish actress Noomi Rapace as an asskicking female bodyguard, and “Polar”, with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as a top assassin who becomes the target of the company he works for. “Polar” features over the top violence (some scenes of which make us cringe as they’re so gory), with a high body count and unabashed sex scenes, but it really works and is so exciting from start to end.