Regal Films

Regal Entertainment, Inc. is a Philippine filmmaking and entertainment firm, established by Lily Monteverde in 1962. It has produced movies of all genres.

Regal films

In business for over forty years now, Regal Films has established its name in making movies that appeal to a broad range of Filipinos. While modern competitors like Star Cinema specialize in producing romance and romantic comedy, Regal has produced movies in all genres, including action, animation, fantasy, comedy, family, documentary, romance, pornography, historical epics, drama, horror, suspense and so forth. Many Filipinos consider Regal as a symbol of national art and culture as a result of its heritage, its stars and its impact on the people.

The following are a few notable films released by Regal:

*"Scorpio Nights" - A highly controversial and extremely pornographic movie, released in 1985 at the height of the Filipino people's uprising against then-president Ferdinand Marcos. Directed by Peque Gallaga, "Scorpio Nights" tells the story of a forbidden love affair between a college student (Daniel Fernando) and a traitorous housewife (Ana Marie Gutierrez). The movie depicts numerous steamy sex scenes and acts of immorality, and was considered graphic as it showed numerous sex acts complete with exposed pubic hair, genitalia and semen. The belief at the time was that "Scorpio Nights" was approved, uncut, for release by the Marcos administration as a way of distracting the restless public from joining anti-government efforts. A South Korean film was adapted from "Scorpio Nights"' core story and sex scenes. "Scorpio Nights" dramatized not only the concept of loveless sex but also Filipino life in poverty and the efforts of the poor to gain the most pleasure out of a difficult existence.
*"Shake, Rattle and Roll" - A horror trilogy.
*"Relasyon" - A 1982 movie directed by Ishmael Bernal about a married man living a double life with his wife and mistress. While the wife (Vilma Santos) struggles to make her husband happy, the two-timer clearly believes that there is nothing wrong with what he's doing.
*"Tiyanak" - A horror movie about a baby that transforms into a killer demon. The movie features Lotlot de Leon and Ramon Christopher.
*"" - A fantasy epic about the hunt for the precious Yamashita treasure. This movie was controversial, not because of its improbable combination of action, comedy and historical flashbacks, but because it won the Best Picture prize of the 2001 Metro Manila Film Festival despite having been panned by critics and moviegoers.
*"Mano Po" - A groundbreaking family drama movie featuring a cast of Filipino stars (including Eddie Garcia, Maricel Soriano, Ara Mina, Richard Gomez and Kris Aquino) playing Chinese and Filipino-Chinese characters. As the first Filipino movie that focused on the Chinese heritage of Filipinos, "Mano Po" was controversial for its cast members playing Chinese people. Regal president Lily Monteverde claims that the movie reflects untold stories from her Chinese ancestry and also declared that Mano Po is the Philippines' answer to America's "The Godfather". "Mano Po" swept the 2002 Metro Manila Film Festival awards en route to a P67.2 million gross (#1 among all entries). It spawned four sequels: ', ', ' and '.
*"Live Show" (aka "Toro") - A pornographic movie, released in 2000, that realistically presents the hard life of Filipinos who resort to prostitution as their main source of income. Because of its realism, graphic sex scenes, suggestions of immorality and portrayal of poverty, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pulled the movie out of theaters using government authority. Leaders of the local film industry blasted Arroyo for her action, describing her as a "puppet of moral terrorists." Political motives may have been behind the decision, as Arroyo's predecessor Joseph Estrada (a former actor himself) was known to have numerous connections in Philippine show business.

"Regal Babies"

Actors whose careers began at Regal (or whose success is linked with Regal) are often referred to as "Regal babies." Among the stars who have deep roots with Regal are Kris Aquino, Aiza Seguerra, Christopher de Leon, Vilma Santos, Angel Locsin, Richard Gutierrez,Judy Ann Santos,Ryan Agoncillo,Angelica Panganiban, Cogie Domingo, Vhong Navarro, Sheryl Cruz, Lotlot de Leon, Ramon Christopher, Susan Roces, Aga Muhlach,Aubrey Miles, Ai-Ai Delas Alas, Janice de Belen, Eddie Garcia, Rene Requiestas, Richard Gomez, Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna, Dina Bonnevie,Gabby Concepcion, Albert Martinez, Jean Garcia, Ruffa Gutierrez, Maxene Magalona, Oyo Boy Sotto, Rhian Ramos, Marian Rivera, Dennis Trillo, , Jennica Garcia, Maja Salvador, Lovi Poe, Denise Laurel, Kim Chiu, Gerald Anderson Yasmien Kurdi, Rainier Castillo, Jennylyn Mercado, Mark Herras, Katrina Halili, Cristine Reyes,Shaina Magdayao, Eugene Domingo, Empress Schcuk, Roxanne Guinoo, Valeen Montenegro, Ara Mina, Ai-Ai Delas Alas, Jiro Manio, Sandara Park, Sam Concepcion, Melissa Ricks, Matt Evans, Keanna Reeves, Rayver Cruz, Iya Villania, Alessandra De Rossi, Nash Aguas, Rica Peralejo, Niña Jose

Trivia

* Regal Films is well known for its lavish ceremonies promoting its stars and movies. In typical fashion, a contract signing or film promotion is normally held in one of the private properties owned by the Monteverde clan, such as the Century Imperial Hotel. These events feature lavish decorations (Example: Chinese decorations for the Mano Po film series launching), a fest of unique foods (Moon Cakes for Mano Po 2's premiere), and play host to selected members of the media and other luminaries.
* Unlike Star Cinema, Viva Films and GMA Films, Regal is funded mainly by the real estate business empire of the Monteverde clan instead of media or entertainment revenues. Even though many of Regal's expensive film have lost money, the studio remains alive thanks to financial support from the properties market.
* Regal has clearly established itself as a special effects powerhouse in Filipino movies. It produced with a staggering budget of P80,000,000. The movie, featuring a group of teenage boys adventuring through different worlds facing monsters, featured the best special effects and computer graphics of Philippine cinema at the time of its release. Despite its media hype, the film grossed only P36.5 million in the local box-office. Most recently Regal provided the special effects and props of , which was produced for P40 million.
* Stars of regal films are called "Regal Babies" because, as mentioned as a bit of trivia in "Ang Pinaka" (a show on Q Channel 11 hosted by Pia Guanio), if there's a Mother Lily (because the industry of show business called her Mother Lily) there are also babies. Among her so-called "babies," it was believed that the late Julie Vega was Mother Lily's most favorite.
* Aside from Regal Films, the company has other sister film outfits: Good Harvest Productions, MAQ Productions and Mother Studio Films

Controversies

Yamashita: The Tiger's Treasure

In the 2001 Metro Manila Film Festival, Regal's Yamashita: The Tiger's Treasure won the Best Picture award over the much favored Bagong Buwan (a film about the military conflict in Muslim Mindanao). Many moviegoers and critics were shocked over its selection for the top award as the movie was presented as an adventure comedy film tackling the legend about the lost gold of Yamashita in the Philippines. For the most part, Yamashita was a fantasy and its subject matter was considered irrelevant to "Filipino values", current events or even culture. Prior to its release, Yamashita rode a wave of hype as "the Philippine answer to Hollywood's Pearl Harbor" due to an action sequence featuring Japanese fighter planes attacking a Philippine base (similar to what happened in Michael Bay's movie). The sequence was produced with the most advanced Filipino special effects available at the time.

Aubrey Miles

In 2002, Regal Films announced its decision to heavily invest its resources on Aubrey Miles, a new sex symbol in the Philippines. As part of its publicly announced investment, Miles signed a multi-million Peso movie contract with the company and her first major movie "Prosti" was released as a heavily-promoted erotic feature.

Miles also appeared on Regal's other films (either as lead actress or supporting actress) such as Sanib, Xerex, Gagamboy, Kuya, Singles, A Beautiful Life and Pa-siyam.

Aubrey Miles is widely believed to be highly paid as an actress with Regal Films. Insider reports that circulated in the media stated that the actress was paid at least P2 million to as much as P6 million per film. Despite having a minor role in A Beautiful Life, Miles was paid P5.8 million, which was P3 million higher than what she received in Xerex.

Despite the resources, critics branded Miles a poor actress. While Prosti (a movie about Philippine prostitution) became a success and brought her some fame, Miles' succeeding movies Xerex and Sanib were both commercial failures and were critically panned.

To date, none of Aubrey Miles' other movies could match the commercial success of Prosti, which made P29 million.Since 2002, Miles has received a total of P40.6 million in salary and bonus payments from Regal Films.

Feud with ABS-CBN and Star Cinema

A feud between Regal Films and ABS-CBN erupted in late 2003 when the latter's film company, Star Cinema, released the comedy "Mr. Suave" starring Vhong Navarro. Lily Monteverde had long planned on releasing Navarro's first-ever starring role under Regal's banner; the film was "Gagamboy", a Filipino superhero movie inspired by Marvel's "Spider-Man". But due to extended post-production for special effects, "Gagamboy" was not released in 2003 as planned. Regal instead scheduled the film for a January 1, 2004 release as part of the 2003 Metro Manila Film Festival's 2nd half salvo. Unfortunately for Regal, Star Cinema's "Mr. Suave" was released months ahead of "Gagamboy" and officially became Navarro's first leading role.

Since then, Regal has no official business deals with ABS-CBN or Star Cinema. In 2004, the renegade movie outfit started casting majority of the GMA stars for their movies (mostly coming from the reality-based artista search Starstruck) instead of ABS-CBN stars. As a result, ABS-CBN started humbling themselves before Mother Lily and allowed most of its major stars to work for Regal. Among the ABS-CBN talents allowed to do movies for Regal were Christian Bautista, Sandara Park, Nash Aguas, Rica Peralejo, Iya Villania and Pinoy Big Brother housemates Say Alonzo and Franzen Fajardo.

Another feud between ABS-CBN and Regal was started again, this time over Angel Locsin and her existing contract with Mother Lily's movie outfit. It was reported that Angel signed an 8-picture contract with Regal back in 2003 but when she signed up with ABS-CBN, she also signed up for the Lopez network's sister company, Star Cinema. Mother Lily got furious over the said deal, because Angel only made 3 movies with Regal, not counting the co-production deals made between Regal and GMA Films.

Displeasure over 2005 MMFF awarding and film festival boycott

Due to her anger over the results of the 2005 Metro Manila Film Festival, Regal founder Lily Monteverde shocked the public by announcing her company's boycott of film festivals in the future and her assertion that she would encourage other producers to do likewise. In confirming the announcement, Regal Films released an official press statement, which read as follows:

:"Regal Entertainment Inc., while appreciative of the many accolades and awards received by its film Blue Moon, would nonetheless like to voice its concerns over the unclear and confusing basis that may have applied by the MMFFP jurors in deciding the winning entries in certain categories.

:In particular:

:1) On the choice of (OctoArts Films') "Kutob" as winner of the Gat. Antonio Villegas Award: The Gat. Antonio Villegas Award is given to the film which best showcases and exalts Filipino values. Since "Kutob" is a film about a psychotic young man, what are the Filipino values supposedly depicted by this movie?

:2) On the Best Director Category: The quality and excellence of a motion picture largely depends on the skill and performance of its director. The movie "Blue Moon" exemplified excellence and technical superiority, as shown by the fact that it was awarded Best Picture, Best Story, Best Screenplay, Most Gender Sensitive Picture, as well as the texters' vote awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

:Considering the numerous awards for "Blue Moon", it is unusual that it did not get the jurors' nod for Best Director. What were the standards considered by the jurors for this category?

:3) On "Mulawin" (co-produced by Regal Films with GMA Films): "Mulawin" was the only motion picture graded "A" by the Cinema Evaluation Board, and this grade recognized the superior acting in, and technical quality of the movie.

:Despite this fact, "Mulawin" did not win a single award. Again, what standards were utilized by the MMFFP jurors, and how different were these from the standards applied by the Cinema Evaluation Board?

:4) On comments made by an MMFFP juror: Regal is particularly disturbed by comments made by one juror, reported in the newspapers, praising the movie "Kutob" even before the awards night.

:Considering that jurors are supposed to be neutral and unbiased, Regal would like to request an explanation from this juror on comments he made to the press, which seem to indicate bias and partiality.

:My heart tells me to return the awards. This is how I felt last night out of anger. Not only was I deprived but also my colleagues involved in the creation of the motion pictures, "Mulawin" and "Blue Moon (2006 film)". However, Regal has been advised by its legal counsel that, pursuant to its contract and undertaking with the MMFFP at the time it joined the Film Festival, it is bound to honor and uphold the decision of the Awards Committee. Nevertheless, we believe that our concerns are critical and serious, and deserve discussion, debate, and consideration. As a producer, we serve the moviegoers who will appreciate the movies. The moviegoers are our ultimate judges of our accolades."

Recent Movies Released

2004

* "Gagamboy"
* "Kuya"
* "I Will Survive"
* "Singles"
* "Sabel"
* "Beautiful Life"
* "Forever My Love"
* "Pa-siyam"
* "So Happy Together"
* ""
* "Aishite Imasu (Mahal kita) 1941"
* "Sigaw"

2005

* "Bahay ni Lola 2"
* "Happily Ever After"
* "Say That You Love Me"
* "Ispiritista ... Tay May Moomoo"(with APT Films)
* "Hari ng sablay"
* "Shake, Rattle and Roll 2k5"
* ""
* "" (with GMA Films)

2006

* "Blue Moon"
* "I Will Always Love You" (with GMA Films)
* "Pamahiin"
* "Manay Po"
* "White Lady"
* "Eternity"
* "TxT (movie)" (with APT Films)
* "Gigil
* "Super Noypi"
* "Shake, Rattle & Roll 8"
* ""
* "Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah"

2007

* "The Promise" (with GMA Films)
* "Happy Hearts"
* "Tiyanaks
* "My Kuya's Wedding"
* "Hide and Seek"
* "Bahay Kubo"
* "Shake Rattle and Roll 9"

2008

* Desperadas
* My Best Friend's Girlfriend (with GMA Films)
*
* My Monster Mom (with GMA Films)
* Loving You
* Mag-ingat Ka Sa...Kulam

Upcoming Releases

External links

* [http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2006/04/10/ENTR2006041061057.html Regal Films signs up Marian Rivera to an eight-picture contract]
* [http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200601081703.htm Mother Lily to boycott Metro Film fest]
* [http://www.mb.com.ph/ENTR2005121952027.html Imee slams MMFF as 'Mother Lily Film Festival']
* [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=24732 The Monteverdes take a strong grip on the film fest]
* [http://www.regalfilms.com/v2/index.php/ Regal Films official site]
* [http://xoomer.virgilio.it/amasoni2002/shl/dc/alyas_batman_en_robin_(1993).htm "Alyas Batman en Robin" Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=42861 Mother Lily is ‘gay’ to be in the MMFF-P]
* [http://www.imdb.com/company/co0077325/ Regal Films Complete Filmography] at the Internet Movie Database

';lhd

References