Was Katrina Halili the first and only choice to remake the Vilma Santos movie Miss X?
Twenty-eight years na ang classic movie ni Governor Vi about the plight of Filipina prostitutes in Amsterdam, directed by Gil Portes and opposite Mark Gil. Through the years, maraming beses nang naipabalita na ire-remake ito and names like Donita Rose, Vina Morales, and Priscilla Almeda were attached to the project but did not materialize.
Earlier this year, first time naming narinig ang muling paglitaw ng idea kay Manny Valera, manager ng Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition Season 1 housemate Niña Jose. Papalabas pa lang ang FHM cover noon ni Niña, together with another DMV talent na si Hazel Ann Mendoza, when Manny told us that he was mulling whether to accept an offer by director Gil na gawin ni Niña ang remake ng Miss X.
Kaso, at that time, papirma naman ng exclusive contract si Niña with Regal Entertainment. Nagbabalak pa nga sana si Manny na i-delay ang contract signing with Regal to get the Miss X movie o di kaya, i-request kay Lily Monteverde na payagan ang alaga niya na tanggapin na rin ang Miss X. Again, plans did not materialize.
Sa pagpirma ni Katrina Halili sa OctoArts Films for an exclusive multi-picture contract, one of the two announced projects na gagawin ni Katrina is the Miss X remake, with Gil Portes again as director using the script of former FHM editor-in-chief Eric Ramos for the remake. Ang isa pang gagawin ni Katrina ay ang One Night Only, na official entry sa 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Sa presscon launching ni Katrina as OctoArts contract artist kahapon, July 22, Direk Gil mentioned that in the idea of remaking Miss X, it was Katrina who is the first and only choice to do this. So, PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked him about Niña.
Ayon sa direktor, hindi raw ito in-offer kay Niña. Niña is a nice girl daw and friend sila ng manager nitong si Manny, but he never offered it. Nagkausap daw sila minsan ni Niña but it was never for this movie. Gusto niya lang daw kunin ang young actress na maging muse for a basketball team sa Bicol.
We immediately contacted Manny about this at ito naman ang naging sagot niya sa amin:
"Ayoko namang magkaroon kami ng issue ni Direk Gil about this dahil, after all, kay Katrina na nga ito at hindi na puwede si Niña dahil exclusive Regal talent na siya. But, of course, it was offered to Niña at si Direk Gil pa personally ang nag-offer nito sa kanya.
"Alam na nga namin ang kuwento noon pa man because it was already spelled out to us, isinusulat na raw kasi that time ni Erik ang script. I don't have to insist and this is just FYI lang, it was offered to Niña," pagdidiin ni Manny.