After two and a half years, fans finally have the chance to watch Anne Curtis in her action film BuyBust.
The movie directed by Erik Matti registered a 100% "fresh" rating from review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes when it opened in Philippine cinemas on August 1, 2018.
In his Instagram account, Direk Erik posted a screenshot of the score and wrote in the caption: "As if today is not important enough. We open in over 170 cinemas nationwide. And... Rotten Tomatoes score just hit 100%! Iho de puga guid!
In an exclusive interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), Direk Erik revealed that BuyBust was supposed to have a different ending.
"Habang nasa kalagitnaan kami ng movie, sinusulat ko pa rin yung movie, nagre-revise ako. Ang hirap kasi ang dami kong doubts sa sarili ko, hindi ko alam kung paano mag-e-end, dito ba papunta ang kwento o dito?
"Yung ending na yun, nasulat ko yun two or three days before shooting.
"Iba pa dapat yung ending.
"Nagbago kasi sinusundan mo yung character ni Anne."
In one of the earliest teaser trailers of BuyBust, Anne's character is seen using a weapon shaped like a trophy of the Metro Manila Film Festival. She grabs it from a shelf that is full of trophies and uses the red flame-shaped trophy to stab her enemy.
Is this Direk Erik's way of hitting back at the MMFF?
Direk Erik laughed out loud before answering, "Actually, pina-design ko talaga yun na parang...
"Pwede siyang karangalan, pwede siyang panaksak."
Did they have the goal of bringing back action films by doing BuyBust?
"Hindi naman action movies lang. Yung idea na iba't ibang klaseng kuwento. Like yung Darna, hindi naman siya action movie. Adventure-superhero movie siya.
"Sana may iba't ibang movies na ipalabas at kumita rin. Hindi lang siya isang klase."
Why should moviegoers watch BuyBust?
"Lampas sampung taon na walang movie na ganito. The strongest characteristic niya is that is it entertaining, nakakatakot...Nasa loob ka ng sinehan pero parang nandun ka sa loob ng drug bust."
"Nung sinusulat ko ito, ayoko siyang magmukhang collection of Facebook rants, kung magko-comment ako sa war on drugs, ayoko rin makulayan na pro-government ito o pro-dilawan.
"Ang gusto ko, I read all about it then talked to PDEA [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency], talked to regular people and came up with my own view on it. I don't want to be prejudiced to anybody.
"Lahat 'yan may consultant ako, may military, may PDEA, may research."
The synopsis of BuyBust goes: "After surviving the slaughter of her entire squad in a drug raid compromised by dirty cops, anti-narcotics special operative Nina Manigan (Anne Curtis), is eager to go head-to-head with the drug cartels that hold a bloody grip on Manila. But when her new mission in the city's most dangerous slum goes south, the angry civilians turn on her squad. Trapped between a brutal drug gang and hordes of bloodthirsty citizens, their only option is to fight their way out, turning one claustrophobic street at a time into a symphony of apocalyptic violence."
