Director Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz hopes he would still direct Scenema Concepts International's next production "El Presidente" despite what happened between him and the producers of "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story," which emerged the run-away winner in the recently concluded 37th Metro Manila Film Festival. The movie won 11 major awards.
Gov. Jeorge "E.R.” Ejercito, who played Asiong Salonga in "Manila Kingpin..." also said he would as much as possible want Tikoy to continue directing "El Presidente", saying "Direk Tikoy is a brilliant director comparable to some of the great Hollywood directors like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola but we have to make a compromise."
A compromise is what Tikoy also wants with regards to their movie "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story." He wants it re-edited to come out with a Director's Cut that would conform to international film festival standards.
This, they have yet to talk about. The actor turned politician revealed that Tikoy has started communicating with him.
"He texted me on New Year's day and apologized for causing 'aberya' to our movie but there are still things to be resolved between him and the producers. May hearing scheduled January 3, and our producer Ms. Mylene Enriquez, who he sued, and her lawyer were there but Direk Tikoy did not appear." In the suit against her, Ms. Enriquez said Tikoy Aguiluz was asking for damages.
If they are able to reach a compromise, his name as director of "Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story" would be restored in the prints, E.R. said. About "El Presidente," if they can't agree on important matters, he said he could get another director, and among those he is considering is Mario O'Hara.
E.R. to sue SQ Laboratories
So far, "Asiong Salonga" has earned about P35-M. It could have been more if they had all 51 prints to show on opening day but SQ Laboratories delivered only 17. E.R. confirmed his plan to sue SQ Laboratories for such failure. "I want to teach them a lesson para hindi na maulit ito sa sinumang producer na kasali sa film festival."
As for his non-win as MMFF Best Actor, E.R. said, "Magaling na actor si Dingdong Dantes. Maybe he deserved the award more than me. But who knows? Marami pa namang award-giving events na mangyayari."
Demi Moore may be 50-years-old, but she proves she can still pull off this bikini in Malibu.
