As early as January 2009, teasers about the
upcoming film Panday were already being screened in cinema houses. When
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) interviewed Senator Bong Revilla
during the wake of Douglas Quijano last June 17, he revealed that the film was
already 60 percent finished.
"Nasa 60% na kami ngayon. Ang leading lady ko dito sina Iza
Calzado at saka si Rhian Ramos. Ang ating main villain as Lizardo ay si
Phillip Salvador. Kasama rin natin si Geoff Eigenmann
at marami pa. You'll be surprised with this movie. Malaking-malaki. I think
this is my biggest film. Bigger than Exodus, bigger than Agimat, Resiklo,
you'll see it. Talagang pinaghandaan, mas mahaba yung preparasyon namin kasi
more than a year, more than one year. Talagang pinapaganda namin."
Where did they shoot this film?
"Location namin Ilocos. ‘Pag sinabi mong Panday, Ilocos ‘di ba? White sand, meron kami n‘yan. And meron kaming location sa Caliraya, Laguna; meron kaming Tanay, Rizal. Meron din kaming Palawan. Malalayo...halos ikutin na namin yung Pilipinas."
What will make this version different from
other Panday movies in the past?
"Unang-una sinimulan namin don sa simula kung saan nanggaling si Lizardo. Parang prequel ito so aatras ‘yong story ng Panday. Then simula nung bata si Flavio, pinakita namin ‘to. Pinakita namin kung ano talaga ang pinagmulan ni Flavio."
Senator Bong says that they want this film to be the entry of Imus Productions for this year's Metro Manila Film Fest.
In the 1980 film starring Fernando Poe Jr. as the magical swordsmith (panday), Max Alvarado played the villain Lizardo. How will Lizardo look like in the 2009 version?
Phillip Salvador, who was spotted at the Tito Doug's wake sporting a bald head, said that he thought of shaving his hair to project a different persona when he assumes the identity of Lizardo in the film.