Filipinos returned to the big screen this week, May 27–31, as studios rolled out major stars and buzzy titles across the country. These three new releases propelled the box office to one of its strongest weeks of the year so far.
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| Colony, Tayo Sa Wakas, & Obsession |
Leading the pack is Pioneer Films' Colony from Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho. The zombie action-horror film opened at number one in the Philippines, grossing over ₱68.5 million, according to reports from South Korea. By Wednesday alone, it had already topped the box office, grossing over ₱20 million in ticket sales.
Pioneer seemed to know it had a potential hit on its hands. Advertisements for the film were all over social media, highlighting the director's reputation within the genre. Stars Jun Ji-hyun and Ji Chang-wook, known for shows such as My Love From the Star and Healer, were front and center in the promotional materials. The lack of a major zombie film or television series in recent months may have also helped generate excitement among genre fans.
The local industry joined the celebration thanks to Star Cinema's Tayo Sa Wakas. Landing in second place, the Cathy Garcia-Sampana-directed romantic drama starring Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan grossed over ₱25 during its first three days. Star Cinema has not yet reported its gross for the full opening week.
The opening easily surpassed the love team's previous theatrical release, An Inconvenient Love (over ₱15 million) in 2022. It also performed similarly to last year's My Love Will Make You Disappear, which grossed ₱40 million domestically from Wednesday to Saturday. Overall, it was a very solid debut for what is expected to be the DonBelle tandem's final film together "for a while."
That angle was heavily emphasized throughout the marketing campaign and appears to have paid off. ABS-CBN, as usual, brought its A-game to ensure a strong opening, organizing mall tours, television appearances, and vlog guestings. The network also made sure there was always something generating buzz during the promotional tour, whether it was discussion about the pair's real-life relationship or the "final movie" narrative.
Tayo Sa Wakas is likely to retain most of its screens nationwide for another week, which bodes well for its chances of earning several million more pesos and potentially reaching the ₱100 million mark.
In third place, Ayala-exclusive Obsession posted an outstanding opening despite its limited showtimes. The Curry Barker-directed horror film grossed an estimated $300,000 (approximately ₱18 million) during its first five days in the country. According to deadline, this opening has surpassed already the lifetime grosses of Speak No Evil, The Substance, and The Black Phone.
Interestingly, delaying the film's Philippine release by a week after its U.S. debut and making it exclusive to Ayala cinemas may have actually helped fuel its buzz locally. With Colony and Tayo Sa Wakas occupying a large number of screens—not to mention Passenger, which opened during the same week—moviegoers interested in Obsession banded together in Ayala malls. This resulted in multiple sold-out screenings being reported across several major branches nationwide. With Queer moving its release to June 10, Obsession is poised to enjoy another strong week in Ayala Malls Cinemas.
It also helped that Wednesday fell on a holiday, boosting mall attendance and accelerating word-of-mouth ahead of the weekend. The result was a perfect storm for these releases. In fact, Tayo Sa Wakas broke The Loved One's previous record for the highest opening day gross for a local movie this year, grossing over ₱12 million.
Meanwhile, last week's opener Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu fell 61 percent this week, grossing over $202K (est. ₱12 million). With $760K in bank during its first two weeks, the latest entry in the Star Wars franchise is likely to rank last box office-wise.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 also took a huge drop amidst strong competition. The David Frankel-directed sequel made $47K (est. ₱2.9 million) this week, down 70 percent. In five weeks, it has now collected $3.482 million (est. ₱215 million), continuing its reign as this year's highest grossing non-local movie in the country. Meanwhile, Michael continues to chug along, grossing over $41K (est. ₱2.5 million) this week for a six-week total of $1.546 million (₱95 million).
Next week will see the opening of A24's breakout hit Backrooms (distributed in the Philippines by Creazion), The Amazing Digital Circus, and local films Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan, Love Ngo, and Muro-Ami. Filipinos are likely to continue flocking to cinemas throughout June.
This article will be updated as more box office figures are released.
