In a socially-distant meeting with Brighlight Productions’ Albee Benitez, we learned that the Magikland producer almost decided to pull out the film from being part of this year’s edition of Metro Manila Film Festival.
Benitez explained that the film is meant to be seen on the big screen but they felt it’s high time to give the Filipino audience a different material that can change the way they look at locally made fantasy features.
“Our original budget was P90 million, but because of the numbers of computer effects and animation, we exceeded the 100 million peso mark. So after that, I already stopped counting,” the businessman and former congressman said in jest.
It is one of the most ambitious films ever made in the recent Philippine cinematic history with 95 percent of the shots were meticulously created with state-of-the-art visual effects that took almost two years to complete.
“But if you look at it, the business side of this film is just secondary. The primary purpose of the film is to really highlight the culture and the folklore of the Filipinos and showcase the talents and skills of our local computer graphic artists and animators,” he underscored.
“‘Yun yung gusto naming ipalabas. People say our movies are just for the local market that’s why when we go to the international stage, we feel so nervous. The film was designed to showcase that we can compete and be at par with international movies. That’s why it took a couple of years to finish the film—three months for shooting the scenes and two years was dedicated solely for post-production,” he carried on.
Benitez is looking at distributing the film to major theaters after its MMFF run. As for further plans to distribute the film internationally or through other streaming platforms, the producer said that everything is still on the drawing board.
“Hopefully we could do it next year January once the government starts to implement less strict quarantine protocols. Once the film comes out on Upstream, it will be available worldwide so we haven’t done anything to have it distributed elsewhere. But if there will be interest in the film, we would be glad to have it on other platforms including Netflix,” Benitez stated.
Magikland is a fantasy film which themes are rooted in age-old Negros myths that is why the heroes’ names pay homage to the local landscape: Boy Bakunawa, Mara Marapara, Pat Patag, and Kit Kanlaon.
Shot with stunning production design details and impressive costuming, the film takes advantage of highlighting the various shooting locations they were able to travel to including spots in Tanay, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, and Ilocos.
Magikland is the last film from iconic director Peque Gallaga, who gives the project the same feel and genes as previous blockbuster hits like Magic Temple and Magic Kingdom.
Executive produced by Benitez, Gallaga, Rey Bantug, and Lore Reyes, the film is directed by Christian Acuna and written by Rod Marmol and Pat Apura.
Magikland stars Miggs Cuaderno, Elijah Alejo, Joshua Eugenio, Princess Rabara, Bibeth Ortega, and Jun Urbano.