“Deadma Walking” makes it to the 2017 MMFF

“Deadma Walking,” a comedy-drama-musical about two gay best friends staging a fake wake, death, and funeral, has been selected as an entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival. It will open in Philippine theaters on December 25 together with the seven other entries.
Based on a screenplay that won the Silver Prize in the prestigious Palanca Awards for Literature, the movie stars real-life best friends Joross Gamboa and Edgar Allan “EA” Guzman in their biggest movie roles yet.

“Isang maagang pa-birthday sa akin ito ni Lord,” said EA who is marking his birthday on November 20. “At blessing din kina Joross, Dimples (Romana, co-star), Sir Rex (Tiri, the movie’s executive producer), and Sir Eric (Cabahug, the movie’s writer and one of two producers) na November birthday celebrants din… Simula nang natapos kaming mag-shooting, araw-araw pinagdarasal ko na makapasok ang ‘Deadma Walking’ sa MMFF. Eto nga, natupad na.”

“Sobrang thankful kami na napili kami… Bonus ang makasali sa MMFF,” said Joross who immediately had high hopes about the movie ever since he and EA watched its final cut. “We already had a good feeling about it pagkatapos namin panoorin. Excited kaming i-promote. Sana suportahan ng mga manonood.”

Produced by T-Rex Entertainment, which also produced the surprise comedy hit “Patay Na Si Hesus,” and directed by Julius Alfonso, “Deadma Walking” also stars Candy Pangilinan and Vin Abrenica, with the special participation by Gerald Anderson and Ms. Eugene Domingo, plus a host of celebrities in cameo roles including Piolo Pascual and Iza Calzado.

Many netizens have been awaiting the release of this movie ever since its trailer was posted on social media, producing what seems to be a “Deadma” craze. Grace Taluyo commented on Facebook, “Panonoorin ko ito. Hindi puwedeng hindi!”

This award-winning screenplay has been published as a paperback by VRJ Books. It was launched at the Manila International Book Fair last September and has been available exclusively in National and Powerbooks stores nationwide. The book debuted in National Book Stores’ Top 10 Bestsellers list for Philippine fiction books in October. It has been called “entertaining,” “rollicking,” “beautiful,” “witty,” and “a rollercoaster of feels” by readers.