Why ana Roces is making a comeback

Metrofest gross.

And here are the box-office grosses of the six official entries of last December's Metro Filmfest (period between Dec. 25, 1999 and Jan. 3, 2000):

* Muro-Ami (GMA Films) -- P66,987,181

* Pepeng Agimat (Millennium Cinema) -- P32,334,365

* Sa Piling ng Aswang (Regal Films) -- P24,567,732

* Bulaklak ng Maynila (Viva Films) -- P17,922,964

* Esperanza (Star Cinema) -- P16,735,635

* Ako ang Lalagot ng Hininga Mo (MHR Films) -- P2,120,501

The 1998 Metro Filmfest total gross was P133,774,340, exceeded by P26,894,038 by the 1999 Metro Filmfest total (P160,668,378), the highest gross so far.

Funfare got a call two days after New Year from Ana Roces (remember her?) who confirmed reports that, it's true, she's making a comeback after a considerable absence.

Ana, or so many of her friends thought, was already happy as a private citizen, holding a well-paying job at a five-star hotel where she was making use of a college degree she earned in London (with honors).

But then, as fate would have it, she crossed the path of Viva boss Vic del Rosario, Jr. who convinced (without much effort) Ana to try showbiz again.

"That was enough to make me rethink my priorities," said Ana who quit showbiz a few years ago due to frustrations and disappointments. (She was supposed to have played Dyesebel in yet .another remake of the Mars Ravelo hydro-character but the plan fell through.) "I also missed showbiz, so I said `yes' to Boss Vic at once."

Ana said that she's soon signing a new contract with Viva.

Let's wait and see how Ana will fit into the present scheme of things in local showbiz.

When comedienne Madeline Kahn died last Dec. 3 of ovarian cancer at 57, the first person that came to my mind was Pierce Brosnan. Why Pierce Brosnan (who, even after I interviewed him twice, may not even remember or know me from Adam)? Because Brosnan's first wife, Cassandra Harris (as the Bond Girl in For Your Eyes Only, with Roger Moore playing 007), also died of ovarian cancer in 1991, prompting Brosnan to support organizations devoted to the fight against and prevention of ovarian cancer.

When Manila Standard's Isah Red and I interviewed Brosnan in Hong Kong in December last year, we asked him if he was, until now, still involved in the same campaign and, sadness crossing his face, Brosnan said yes, he was, even now that he has a new wife, TV producer Keely Shaye Smith with whom he has a son named Dylan Thomas (not named after the poet).

"Even if I now have a new life," said Brosnan, "I continue to stand up for various organizations involved in this campaign because I have more friends going through mutilations of their bodies for some disease, something which could be avoided and prevented if doctors paid more attention to the situation."

Then, the sadness in his face was replaced by a look of anger when Brosnan added, "It's just infuriating the way some doctors don't know what to do with these patients."

It seems that the "TTK virus" has stricken the popular and very eligible actor again. ("TTK" could mean either tira-tira king, as in "king of left-overs;" or, tira-tira king as in a "king" who strikes anybody.)

It's a pity that the actor is always romantically linked with actresses separated from their husbands (or boyfriends), including a debonair actor's "ex" and now a singer-actor's "ex" with whom the actor is often seen around town (if they can go public, it simply means that they're not trying to hide anything). Of course, when you ask them, both will say, "We're only friends!" (An over-used alibi.)

Maybe somebody should advise the actor to take pains to find Miss Right, somebody never married, somebody nice and beautiful and fit to be the queen of his "kingdom." Miss Right is the only thing lacking in the actor's life now.