Imagine You and Me | |
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Directed by | Michael Tuviera |
Written by |
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Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Shayne O. Sarte |
Edited by | Tara Illenberger |
Music by |
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Production companies | |
Distributed by | GMA Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 120 minutes |
Country | Philippines |
Language | Filipino |
Budget | ₱60 million |
Box office | ₱198 million |
Imagine You and Me (stylized as Imagine You & Me) is a 2016 Philippine romantic comedy [2] film directed by Mike Tuviera. The film stars Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. [3] The film was released on July 13, 2016, as AlDub's first anniversary offering, which happened on July 16, 2016, three days after the film was shown. It was screened primarily in the Philippines and also had screenings in other countries such as Canada, Italy, and the United States. [4] [5] The film follows the story of Andrew and Gara as their opposite beliefs cross paths in Italy.
The Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines evaluated the film as high quality and gave a B grade. [6] On its first day of showing in cinemas, the film grossed over ₱21.5 million making 2016's highest opening gross for a Philippine film until it was surpassed by Barcelona: A Love Untold . [2] [7] [8]
Gara is an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who works in Italy and believes in destiny and true love. [9] On the other hand, Andrew is a medical student [10] who is grief-stricken, very pragmatic, and unenthusiastic about accepting fate. [11] As they cross paths in Italy, their personal beliefs help them recognize each other and unusually view love.
Circumstances in her family led to Gara's departure from the Philippines and work in various jobs in Italy. One of her jobs involves pet-sitting a dog of Clarissa. One day, Gara sees Andrew at the park, seemingly depressed. A thief suddenly grabs Andrew's bag and then goes after the snatcher. Gara also pursues the thief and gets the bag from the thief but Andrew is nowhere in sight. She peruses Andrew's smartphone to find contacts and inform them about the whereabouts of Andrew's belongings.
Aside from being a pet sitter, Gara also works as a household helper for Terry who turns out to be the stepmother of Andrew. Gara and Andrew have not met personally and Andrew sees Gara in their living room while browsing his smartphone. Andrew confronts Gara saying that she is connivance with the thief. After arguing, they accidentally fall and hug on the couch. Terry comes into the scene and ends their feud. Gara eventually returns Andrew's bag and their romantic relationship starts.
Andrew discovers that his ex-girlfriend Isay left him. A flashback shows that Andrew had presented Isay with a heart-shaped glass and a wedding ring, which was intended for their proposal. Isay refused to give both, and the glass fell and broke. Andrew hoped that Isay would come back and explain everything about their breakup. He leaves pieces of the broken glass in all of the places that they have been. Gara finds one of the pieces of glass in front of Clarissa's house. She deduces that the identities of Isay and Clarissa are the same. Isay is suffering from leukemia and ends her relationship with Andrew as a result.
Gara arranges a meeting between Andrew and Isay so that they can inform together, before deciding to return to the Philippines. Realizing that Andrew is grateful to Gara, Isay persuades him to follow her. Gara begins her journey to the airport but is hit by a car when she stares at Andrew. As the injured Gara is still recovering in the hospital, Andrew expresses his love for her. Andrew and Gara embrace and share a kiss.
Since the successful release of the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival film My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore —the third-highest-grosser of the year [lower-alpha 1] —a project commemorating the first anniversary of AlDub was unveiled in March 2016, [18] [19] which was made into a film the next month. Imagine You and Me was the first film with Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza in leading roles. [20] The film was planned to be shot in Italy and according to its director, Mike Tuviera, it would be a dream come true for him and of his father, APT top executive Tony Tuviera, to do a film in Italy. [21] The director also said that the film is a tribute to OFWs who became a big part to the success of Kalyeserye. [22] Mike Tuviera initially wanted an action-horror film for AlDub since he is best known with that kind of genre but the production company insisted on romantic comedy film for AlDub as expected by fans. [21] As for the story concept, there were eight scripts submitted before the final script got approved. [21] It was written by Aloy Adlawan and Renato Custodio. [1]
Production of the film began in May 2016 in Como, Italy. [23] [24] According to Como, Italy's website La Provinicia di Como, Richards and Mendoza were accompanied by 35 crew members, along with director Mike Tuviera. [25] [26] The shoot in Como, Italy started on May 9, 2016, and ended on May 18, 2016, with the support of the municipality government of Como. [25] There also scenes shot in Verona, Italy [27] where Richards and Mendoza had a scene at the statue of Juliet. [28] It is one of the only two films (the other one is the film adaptation of Angels & Demons by Dan Brown) permitted to shoot in Verona. [21] Overall, according to Rams David of Triple A (the talent agency of Maine Mendoza), 95% of the film was shot in Italy. [29]
During filming, Tuviera used benches in many scenes to honor Kalyeserye creator Jenny Ferre who is fond of benches. [22] He also added that Jasmine Curtis-Smith, one of the film's supporting cast, was sick in the duration of the shoot in Italy and since Curtis-Smith role is a sickly person, the director used Curtis-Smith's situation for method acting. [22]
Maine Mendoza herself, the film's lead actress, wrote the lyrics of the film's theme song with music by Vic Sotto and arranged by Jimmy Antiporda (member of the defunct band Neocolours). [12] On June 16, 2016, Mendoza performed the song "Imagine You and Me" on Eat Bulaga!. [30] A duet version of the song with Alden Richards is also included in the film.
The film's soundtrack, including its instrumental version was released and streamed on July 8, 2016, in the digital music services. [31] On its day of release, the songs lead the charts in iTunes Philippines. [32] It was also released digitally on Spotify and Google Play. [29]
As reference to Kalyeserye, there are several lip syncing scenes between Richards and Mendoza. As background music for their lip sync, they have used several songs including "Magkaibang Mundo" by Jireh Lim and Charlie Puth's "One Call Away." [33] Although Puth's song did not make it in the theatrical release and fans were clamoring to include the scene in the home media release as director's cut. [33]
The 120-minute film Imagine You and Me premiered at SM Megamall on July 12, 2016, [9] [34] and was released in the Philippines on July 13. [30] During its opening day, Imagine You and Me grossed ₱21.5 million. [35] This revenue reflects ticket sales in the Philippines where most of it comes from the provinces outside Metro Manila. [36] It was 2016's highest opening gross for a Philippine film until it was surpassed by Barcelona: A Love Untold (₱23 million). [2] [7] [8] On July 17, the film grossed ₱120 million. [22]
The film opened initially with 195 theaters nationwide but the producers added 35 theaters more due to demand and thus, it was shown in a total of 230 theaters over the Philippines for its succeeding days. [8] [21] Although there were cinemas in the Philippine provinces that experienced screening delays due to technical problems. [35] Due to the large volume of moviegoers, the producers decided to add 35 more theaters. [37] On its second week, the theaters were reduced to 187. [22]
It was also screened internationally and was released in Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Guam, New Zealand [4] [5] and Australia. [38] AlDub fans arranged numerous block screenings of the film. [39] The block screenings in a mall in Manila benefited the GMA Kapuso Foundation, [40] a non-profit organization doing social-welfare services.
The Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines composing people from the Filipino film industry evaluated the film and gave a B grade. [6] [41] Having graded B means that Imagine You and Me is of high quality and shall receive 65% tax rebate. [42] Actress Kris Aquino gave a late review of the film through an Instagram post and she was all praises to the director, the main cast and Jasmine Curtis-Smith. [43] Television anchor and host Teddy Locsin of ANC's NoFilter@ANC also reviewed Imagine You and Me and said that the film "is a deft retelling of Romeo&Juliet. Alden&Maine are refreshingly natural, not playing characters as living them." [44] He further said that Mendoza reminds him of Jennifer Aniston. [44]
Mari-an Santos of Philippine Entertainment Portal gave a balanced review as she praised the setting, writers and cast especially Richards and Mendoza's natural performances. [16] On the other hand, she criticized the plot loopholes such as the unsecured smartphone and the portrayal of Gara as an OFW "could have been better." [16] Oggs Cruz of Rappler described the film as "harmless diversion" and taken note how the writers creatively portrayed the popularity of Kalyeserye within the familiar plots of the romantic comedy genre and how the director complemented the writing prowess. [1] Furthermore, Cruz praised Mendoza's "very relatable charisma" and concluded that "the film’s being well-made just adds a certain justification to all the heightened promises of romance." [1]
Nazamel Tabares, a blogger at Movies Philippines, rated the film 3 stars out of 5 saying that "pleasant all throughout, Imagine You & Me may give nothing new to the pile of romantic comedy films in the Philippines but the film isn't ridiculously written and doesn't overdo the tired genre." [45] Philbert Ortiz Dy of ClickTheCity.com, a lifestyle guide website, rated the film 2 stars out of 5 saying that "without any real investment in narrative gravity, the film would have likely been better off staying cute, leaving all the terminal illnesses to the movies that actually want to do those stories." [46] Ted Claudio, a blogger at Wazzup.ph, had two ratings for the film. As a film in the perspective of AlDub fans, he gave a 5 stars out 5 while for non-AlDub fans, he gave a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stating that it is good dating film "for its great location, story, fun and romance." [47]
At the 2017 Box Office Entertainment Awards, Imagine You and Me received awards for Prince of Philippine Movies (Richards) and Princess of Philippine Movies (Mendoza). [48] The film's theme song "Imagine You and Me" won Movie Original Theme Song of the Year (Mainstream) at the 33rd PMPC Star Awards for Movies. [49]
A documentary special, Imagine You and Me: The Journey, was aired on GMA Network on July 9, 2016. [50]
Eat Bulaga!, formerly Eat... Bulaga!, is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. Originally hosted by Tito Sotto, Vic Sotto, Joey de Leon, Chiqui Hollman and Richie D'Horsie, it premiered on Radio Philippines Network on July 30, 1979. The show was originally produced by Production Specialists, Inc. TAPE Inc. produces the show since July 7, 1981. Alexa Miro, Betong Sumaya, Buboy Villar, Cassy Legaspi, Mavy Legaspi, Paolo Contis, Kimpoy Feliciano, Dasuri Choi, Glaiza de Castro, Kokoy de Santos, Michael Sager, Winwyn Marquez, Yasser Marta, Chariz Solomon, Arra San Agustin and Isko Moreno currently serve as the hosts, with participation of Music Hero Band. It is the longest running variety show in the Philippines.
Martina Eileen Hernandez delas Alas-Sibayan, known professionally as Ai-Ai delas Alas, is a Filipina singer, actress, and comedian. She is widely regarded as the country's "Queen of Comedy " of her generation for her comedic talent and best known for her role in the film Ang Tanging Ina (2003), which became a blockbuster hit. On account of the film's popularity, a television series spin-off was produced, as well as three sequels: Ang Tanging Ina N'yong Lahat (2008), Ang Tanging Ina Mo (2010) and Enteng ng Ina Mo (2011), with delas Alas reprising her role. She also appeared in the comedy film Our Mighty Yaya, which premiered on May 10, 2017, through Regal Entertainment.
GMA Network Films, Inc., doing business as GMA Pictures, is a Filipino film and television production company headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film production companies in the Philippines, along with Star Cinema, Viva Films and Regal Entertainment. Its films include Jose Rizal (1998), Muro Ami (1999), and Deathrow (2000).
Rhea Santos-de Guzman is a Filipino broadcast journalist and television presenter currently based in Canada. She is known for co-anchoring GMA Network's morning show Unang Hirit and hosting several news and public affairs programs including Reporter's Notebook and Tunay na Buhay. After 19 years of being a broadcast journalist, she left the Philippines to study and eventually resume her profession in Vancouver, Canada.
Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr., popularly known as Alden Richards, is a Filipino actor, host, ambassador, entrepreneur, artist, producer and director. He is dubbed the "Asia's Multimedia Star" after receiving the Asian Star Prize awards in the 14th Seoul International Drama Awards of 2019 for acting.
Nicomaine Dei Capili Mendoza-Atayde, better known as Maine Mendoza, is a Filipino actress and television personality. She is best known for her viral Dubsmash videos and her role as Yaya Dub in the noontime reality show Eat Bulaga! segment "Kalyeserye", previously aired on GMA Network and worldwide via GMA Pinoy TV. Her rise to fame is often described as phenomenal and unconventional due to the unscripted forming of AlDub love team in Eat Bulaga! on July 16, 2015, where she was paired with Alden Richards. AlDub is a portmanteau of Richards' first name and Mendoza's character in "Kalyeserye".
AlDub was a love team which originated from the Kalyeserye portion of the "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment of the variety show Eat Bulaga! They were also called as the "phenomenal love team" due to their rise in popularity after they were accidentally paired on the July 16, 2015 episode of the Problem Solving portion of "Juan for All, All for Juan" which later became the first episode of Kalyeserye. AlDub was derived from a portmanteau of the tandem's character names in Kalyeserye, namely Filipino actor Alden Richards, who portrays a fictionalized version of himself, and Yaya Dub, portrayed by Dubsmash Queen personality and socialite actress Maine Mendoza, who initially does not talk and interacts through lip-syncing. which is now scandal on relationship.
Kalyeserye was a soap opera parody segment that was aired live on the Filipino noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! on GMA Network. The mini-show, as it had evolved, focused on AlDub, the fictional couple pairing — or "love team" as it is more commonly known in the Philippines — of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza's "Yaya Dub" character in which the two only communicate through lip-syncing to various pop songs and movie audio clips as well as written messages, and interact only on the show's split-screen frame. Richards is usually based in Broadway Centrum studio of Eat Bulaga! in Quezon City, Metro Manila while Mendoza travels around to a different external location.
My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore is a 2015 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Jose Javier Reyes, starring Ai-Ai delas Alas and Vic Sotto with Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. It is an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival produced by Octo Arts Films, M-Zet Productions, APT Entertainment, GMA PICTURES, and MEDA Productions. The film follows the love–hate relationship story between Vito Carillo (Sotto) and Corazon Talatala and the growing relationship between star-crossed lovers Dondi Talatala (Richards) and Anna Carillo (Mendoza).
Wish I May is the second extended play by Filipino actor and recording artist Alden Richards. It has 11 tracks and released under GMA Records on October 17, 2015. Upon the release of the album, it earned a gold record from PARI. It was launched at SM City North EDSA.
Pabebe wave is a term coined by the Philippine media to describe a gesture where a person imitates the waving movement done by beauty contestants in the Miss Universe pageant. It was popularized by AlDub in the "Juan For All, All for Juan" segment of the Philippine noontime show Eat Bulaga! A deviation from a beauty-queen wave gesture, it was exchanged between Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza after its initiation by the latter's character, Yaya Dub. Now popular among Filipinos, it also caught the attention of the world through several media platforms. The gesture is similar to an earlier British gesture – the royal wave, used to mock the waving of the royal family.
Yes! is a monthly showbiz-oriented magazine from the Philippines published by Summit Media. Started in 2000, it has a circulation between 140,000 to 160,000 every month making it the top showbiz magazine in the Philippines.
Sebastian Benedict Granfon Arumpac also known by his nicknames Baste Granfon and Bae-by Baste, is a Filipino child actor, television host, and singer. He was the youngest host in the roster of presenters of the longest-running noontime variety show Eat Bulaga!.
The 47th Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation Box Office Entertainment Awards (GMMSF-BOEA), honored the personalities, movies and TV programs in the Philippines, and took place on April 17, 2016, at the Novotel Grand Ballroom, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City. The award-giving body honors Filipino actors, actresses and other performers' commercial success, regardless of artistic merit, in the Philippine entertainment industry. The awards night was aired on ABS-CBN's "Sunday Best" on May 1, 2016.
Yaya Dub is a fictional character in the Kalyeserye portion of the "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment of Eat Bulaga! played by Maine Mendoza. Yaya Dub who first appeared in the Problem Solving portion of "Juan for All, All for Juan" on July 4, 2015 is the personal assistant or nanny to Lola Nidora and the love interest of the fictionalized version of Alden Richards. In the July 16, 2015 episode of Kalyeserye, the love team of Yaya Dub and Alden has been dubbed as AlDub. Yaya Dub as well as other characters of Kalyeserye were created by Jenny Ferre, the creative head of Eat Bulaga! Although the term "Kalyeserye" was coined by Joey de Leon.
Love is... is a Philippine television film by Eat Bulaga! and was aired on October 21, 2017, at GMA Network without any commercial break. It was directed by Adolf Alix Jr. starring the AlDub love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. The main plot of the television film drama revolves around the effects of clinical depression to a person. Eat Bulaga! also released the whole television film on its official YouTube channel under Creative Commons Attribution License and distributed by GMA Pictures.
"Tamang Panahon" is a special episode of Eat Bulaga! as well as the 87th episode of its "Kalyeserye" portion. The episode is also a benefit concert that was aired lived on television in the Philippines and other countries on October 24, 2015 from the Philippine Arena without any commercial breaks. "Tamang Panahon" highlighted the no-restrictions meeting of the AlDub love team of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. The tickets of the concert were sold out after three days of the announcement of the concert and all of the ticket sales, which amounted to ₱14 million, was for the construction of AlDub libraries that benefited schools in the Philippines and the Lumads.
Jack Em Popoy: The Puliscredibles is a 2018 Filipino action comedy film directed by Mike Tuviera and starring Coco Martin, Vic Sotto, and Maine Mendoza. Its plot revolves around a team of "puliscredibles"—consisting of three charismatic, adventurous police officers Jack (Martin), Popoy (Sotto), and Emily (Mendoza)—who embark on a mission to stop crimes from occurring within their vicinity. The film was released on December 25, 2018, as an official entry to the 2018 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Hello, Love, Goodbye is a 2019 Philippine romantic drama film produced and distributed by Star Cinema. Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and produced by Carlo L. Katigbak and Olivia M. Lamasan, it stars Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, with several cast members includes Kakai Bautista, Lito Pimentel, Joross Gamboa, Maymay Entrata, Lovely Abella and Jameson Blake. The film follows when a struggling overseas Filipino worker, and a bartender, as they attempt to reconcile their personal careers and love for each other in Hong Kong.
Maine is seen with Irma Adlawan, one of the cast members of Imagine You And Me.