Happy surely trumps unhappy at the local box office. Petersen Vargas' Un/Happy For You has now crossed ₱450 million at the box office (including global numbers). Only a handful of local films were able to cross this mark (Miracle on Cell No. 7, A Second Chance, Vice Ganda comedies, & Kathryn Bernardo films).
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| Un/Happy For You. (C) Star Cinema |
Just to paint a picture, its current total is now line with 2022's Thor: Love & Thunder's box office gross here and above recent hits Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Barbie, & The Little Mermaid.
Aside from being the highest grossing film for the JoshLia love team, this is also a career-high for director Vargas. He has been an integral component in the return of the studio's supremacy at the box office. He led An Inconvenient Love as Star Cinema re-tested the waters back in 2022. This was followed by helming Kathryn Bernardo's stepping in a new genre with Dolly De Leon in A Very Good Girl. Both have been hits in their own right and now, Un/Happy For You further cemented his skill in handling mainstream releases.
To recap how the film likely managed to get this big win at the box office:
The local industry needed a hit and it really felt like Star Cinema accepted the job to deliver. A look test was dropped immediately after the film announcement back in April. The cast barnstormed several key malls across the Luzon and Visayas regions more than a month before its release date - that's unheard of for a local film after the reopening of theatres back in 2021. Two trailers were also dropped during their promotional tour. They also did not stop after opening day as Julia Barretto & Bong Gonzales visited more cinemas during the opening weekend.
It didn't hurt either that the film was easy to sell. This is the genre + love team pair up a large demographic here will go to the big screen. The film also feels like a closure to the once-in-real life partner which likely helped in fueling buzz and, eventually, ticket sales. Love teams are Philippines' franchises. Mix this with a decent premise and audiences will come. And critics aggregated by Kritikultura.com agree that the pair is magnetic on the big screen.
Over at Hollywood releases for the week of September 11-15, 2024, Speak No Evil grossed ₱4.8 million ($86K) on its opening week here in the Philippines.
Deadpool and Wolverine - $23K | $7,780,665
Alien Romulus - $7K | $493,407
