Despite limited showings, Dir. Pepe Diokno hopes audience give a chance to 'Isang Himala'

Isang Himala director Jose Lorenzo Diokno reveals his upcoming musical film will only get 31 cinemas on premiere day which is far lower than the screen out other potential MMFF 2024 blockbusters would get. Despite this, Diokno hopes audience can still give a chance to the adaptation.

Isang Himala. (C) CreaZion Studios

Possible cited reasons could be due to its genre. While Wicked was a massive hit in the country, other local musicals failed to lit up at the box office. Another reason could be due to the lack of big stars in the film which might discourage exhibitors to add more showtimes. 

"Your support will help convince more cinemas to screen us," Diokno adds in a tweet. 

The upcoming musical is an adaptation of the theatrical play of the same name back in 2018. Aicelle Santos also played the same lead role in the said play. It premiered on Power Mac Center Spotlight Theater in Circuit Makati under the direction of Ed Lacson Jr. 

From Creazion Studios, lsa, a young woman from the impoverished village of Cupang, experiences a vision of the Virgin Mary during an eclipse. Convinced she has been chosen to perform miracles, Elsa begins healing the sick, drawing thousands of desperate pilgrims to the small town. As the village transforms into a bustling pilgrimage site, Elsa and the people of Cupang are thrown into a complex web family, love, money, politics, and faith. Are Elsa’s miracles real, and what is the cost of blind faith? “Isang Himala” is a multi-character story, where personal tragedies interweave into a collective tragedy, holding up mirror to our society.

Isang Himala opens in Philippine cinemas December 25 as part of the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival.