Reel coupling Real uncoupling

The long-delayed movie teaming up for the first time Regine Velasquez and Piolo Pascual is finally in the works. Viva's big boss Vic del Rosario says the project took so long because the script went through several revisions. Will a Regine-Piolo tandem hit it big? We'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure Boss Vic won't be taking such a big gamble if he knew the odds were against him. Viva by the way is teaming up with Star Cinema on another project that will bring together two young stars, Sarah Geronimo and Sandara Park.

The movie has no title yet since the script is still being written. Besides, both Sandara and Sarah are out of the country. Sandara is back home in Korea and is not expected to arrive later this month. Sarah is doing a concert series in London. She and her barkada of performers, Mark Bautista and Rachelle Ann Go had just come from a stint in Australia.

After Sarah returns home, she'll be busy preparing for her first solo concert, Sarah Geronimo: The Other Side, at the Araneta Coliseum on September 30. o0o

Claudine Barretto is denying that Coney Reyes is one of her advisers in her lawsuits against Jo Ann Maglipon, the editor in chief of Yes and Hi magazines.

Claudine told showbiz reporters after a presscon for the movie "Dubai" last week that there are deeper reasons for her filing an P8 million suit against Ms. Maglipon. But she refused to say what those reasons were.

There had been reports that Claudine was infuriated with the articles Jo Ann wrote about the christening of Sabina, Claudine and Raymart Santiago's adopted daughter, her relationship with Rico Yan and her feud with her sisters Gretchen and Marjorie. "There's a lot more," said Claudine, mentioning the supposed memo ABS-CBN sent to Ms. Maglipon before the actress decided to file the case.

Claudine said she won't be commenting any more about the suit, saying she is leaving it all up to the court.

So how are things now with her and her sisters? Fine, Claudine said. They are on talking terms, and that's a big step. In fact, Gretchen will be part of the wedding entourage when Claudine and Raymart tie the knot on January 20. She wants Gretchen to be her matron of honor, although her sister has not confirmed her participation.

"I have to ask her again," Claudine said. The wedding venue hasn't been decided yet but the choice has narrowed down to Tagaytay or Subic. Even the date is still not definite, according to Claudine. o0o

ABS-CBN has adopted a new system for its soap operas. It has begun to can its soaps, meaning they are taped way in advance. It used to be rush, rush, rush for the network because the actors get the script only at the start of the taping. There were also last-minute revisions to the script, and because of the changes, tapings sometimes stretched overnight. Naturally, the actors weren't thrilled working long, tiring hours.

ABS-CBN's new series, "Vietnam Rose," breaks ground in that the episodes were taped weeks ahead. "The script came ahead so we have already taped several episodes," says direk Joel Lamangan, who has a six-month contract for the series.

Another innovation is that the tapings pack up promptly at 2am. But "Vietnam Rose" almost didn't get off the ground, reveals direk Don Cuaresma. The budget was so huge that the network executives had second thoughts about pushing through. They talked with the stars of the series to see if they were willing to take a smaller talent fee. Ms. Maricel Soriano agreed and so did Jay Manalo. I asked if direk Joel took a pay cut and he replied "No."

ABS-CBN is taking a big chance on "Vietnam Rose." It needs to, because it is desperate to recover its once lofty position in the ratings war. Its other high-stakes project, "Pinoy Big Brother," failed to make a big splash in the ratings during its maiden week. o0o

You spend a fortune on a wedding only to pay a king's ransom later on to have it annulled. That's what Dino Guevarra and Kim delos Santos are finding out. The couple had a modest wedding, by showbiz standards. Now, Dino has to shell out P250,000 for an annulment. The amount covers psychologist's and attorney's fees. The amount no doubt stunned Dino, but he sees a solution.

"When I get the chance I'll ask Kim to file the annulment in the US, where it's much cheaper," he told me during the presscon for "Bahay Mo Ba 'To."

Dino denies that he and Darling Lavenia have a thing going on, and that they were texting sweet messages to each other. He said that what happened was that Wendell Ramos borrowed his cellphone to text the bold starlet. So the message ended up in Dino's inbox. He said he later forwarded the message to Wendell.

Truth to tell, it seems that Dino has gotten over Kim. He's busying himself with his acting career and his two children, who lives with him. o0o

There are only five contestants left in "Close Up to Fame," talent search hosted by Heart Evangelista and Geoff Eigenmann. It's down to Jayson, Carine, Val, Reyson and Teena. And guess what? All are from Davao.

I wonder why Davao is such fertile ground for talent. Could it be the durian?