Mark or Hero: Who fits Lastikman’s suit?

Curtain-raisers:

• Could it be true that the management of SM Cinemas will stop showing bold/sexy films now that they (owners) have become Born-Again Christian?

• Lotlot de Leon is deadset on filing a petition for annullment of her marriage to Ramon Christopher by whom she has three children. She’s now romantically linked to another Ramon – Recto, that is.Lotlot is driving a brand-new Lancer which her manager, Angge, has bought for her.

• Sen. Mar Roxas will drop by the National Press Club (NPC) tomorrow (Aug. 27) for the Grand Celebrity Night featuring Marco Sison, Arnell Ignacio, Aliyah Parcs, Bernie Uy, Ronnie Diao, the Mardel International Dancers and Michael Cruz (Star in a Million finalist).

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Besides Darna, Dyesebel, Captain Barbell and a few other komiks super characters, one of the most coveted is Lastikman, first played by the late Von Serna (Snooky’s father) in an LVN movie years ago and then by Vic Sotto two Metro Filmfests ago.

Viva Films has acquired the rights (to the tune of... P1.5 million?) from the heirs of Mars Ravelo, who created the elastic super hero, as an entry in this December’s Metro Filmfest (Vic Sotto co-produced the 2002 Lastikman with OctoArts Films).

The banner question in today’s Funfare is anti-climactic because Viva has already tapped its contract star, Mark Bautista (2003 Star for a Night finalist), for the title role, with Sarah Geronimo (2003 Star for a Night winner) as his ladylove. Shooting will start late next week.

For a while, there was a rumor that Hero Angeles (Star Circle Quest winner) was also being considered for the role. But in a chat with Funfare, Hero said that he never received any offer from Viva. "I only learned about it from the papers," said Hero. "Nobody has contacted nor talked to me about any offer."

Viva’s Lastikman, predicted to be another blockbuster, will be directed by Mac Alejandre who megged last year’s Viva Metro Filmfest entry, Captain Barbell (with Bong Revilla in the title role).

Second week of September, the Lastikman shooting will take a break because Mark and Sarah (together with Rachelle Ann Go and Christian Bautista) will go on a US concert tour for their hit show Night of the Champions. Shooting will be resumed in October when they come back from New York (Sept. 18), Chicago (Sept. 26), Los Angeles (Oct. 1) and San Francisco (also in September, with Erik Santos) for a TFC (The Filipino Channel) affair.

Annabelle’s New Discovery

Remember the name: Rochelle Quiambao.

She’s the new discovery of Annabelle Rama who presented her to a few members of the press last Monday.

Rochelle, 20, is the only child of Rommel Viray Quiambao (of Masantol, Pampanga) and Shirley Argoncillo (of Cebu). She was born in San Francisco and, she said, brought up on Filipino values, customs and tradition. She stands 5’6" and measures 36-23-36, a figure which she maintains with healthy eating ("No junk food, please!") and regular workouts (treadmill, push-ups and sit-ups).

"I’ve always wanted to be an actress," said Rochelle who first visited the Philippines when she was three-years old and then when she was seven-years old. During this her third visit, Rochelle has decided to stay and enrolled in a Communication Arts course at Miriam College.

Asked if she’d do bold roles, Rochelle shook her head.

"Maybe seductive and sexy roles but nothing that will offend my family," she said, "I want to maintain the respect of my family and friends."

The well-travelled Rochelle (who has visited Jamaica, British Columbia, England, France and Italy, among other places, with her parents) has impressive credentials. She plays the piano and has won in several music competitions in California and other states, starting with her first competition at age 11 when she joined the United States Open Music Competition and bagged a "silver."

A beauty-queen material, Rochelle might join the next Bb. Pilipinas contest.

Why Billy Isn’t In The Exorcist Big-Screen Pic

Anytime now, Exorcist: The Beginning will be shown in Philippine theaters. I’m sure that, since it has been well-publicized, local fans will look for Billy Crawford in the film. Here and now, I’m reminding them not to do so. They won’t find Billy in a single scene. The reason is plain and simple: He’s not in the movie at all.

But Billy was, indeed, chosen for the role of the possessed teener for the movie that has undergone radical changes, with lead actor Liam Nesson dropping out of the project, replaced by Stellan Skarsgard. The movie was directed by Renny Harlin, also a second choice.

But if you buy a DVD copy of Exorcist: The Beginning, you will find Billy in it. It’s not the version, though, that you’ll be seeing on the big screen but the first one (which went straight to video).

How did it happen? Well, according to a Funfare informer, when the producers previewed the (first) finished film, they found it lacking in "shock treatment" and more of a suspense-thriller than the horror film it has to be. Thus, a complete reshoot was done, with major changes in the cast, leaving our Billy Crawford one of the casualties.

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