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ABS-CBN has released a statement on Friday regarding the fate of the Darna movie, which fans have been excited about since the company initially announced it in 2014.
ABS-CBN’s Darna was supposed to star Angel Locsin (who also starred in the TV series produced by GMA-7) but left the project due to spine injury. The network eventually announced that Liza Soberano would take on the role, but she also left the project due to (guess what) another injury she acquired at a taping.
In July 2019, Jane De Leon was cast in the much-coveted role. She gained a lot of attention following the announcement.
The project also had a new director that time. Erik Matti also left due to creative differences with Star Cinema (ABS-CBN’s movie production company). He was replaced by Jerrold Tarog.
On Friday, however, ABS-CBN announced that they are indefinitely postponing the production of the Darna movie project.
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The COVID-19 pandemic was the main reason for the postponement of the project. Its impact on movie production and cinemas was the major factor in the company’s decision.
The safety of the actors and the production staff was also a concern.
“Because the movie requires complex logistics, crowd shots, and fight scenes that involve physical contact, it will be difficult to give justice to the superhero film while strictly adhering to the guidelines,” the company wrote, referring to new normal production guidelines.
The movie’s production reportedly started last January, just two months before the Philippines was put under community quarantine.
One of the many businesses that got affected in this pandemic was the cinema industry. Cinemas were not (and are still not) allowed to operate. That, aside from the new normal guidelines, also greatly affected movie production companies. Why would you keep on spending money in doing movies that you don’t know when you will be allowed to release?
Anyway, let’s just hope that this pandemic soon ends, and our lives get back to norma, and we can go to the movies once again.