MANILA, Philippines – The fate of the Maria Ozawa movie “Nilalang” in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival is in jeopardy after its main financier announced it is backing out of the project.
In a statement sent to Philstar.com and other media outfits, MFT Group—the main funding partner of Haunted Tower Pictures, which is producing the movie—said it will no longer finance “Nilalang.”
This is after Robin announced on Tuesday that he is pulling out from the movie to take care of his wife Mariel Rodriguez, who is “experiencing a delicate pregnancy.”
READ: Robin Padilla backs out of MMFF entry ‘Nilalang’ with Maria Ozawa
The statement added the MFT Group “does not believe that there is a suitable replacement for Mr. Padilla and as a result, the prospective timeline for the production of ‘Nilalang’ will be compromised.”
Because to this, they announced that “the production will be delayed to an extent that ‘Nilalang’ will not be released in time for the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.”
Read the full statement of MFT Group below.
After much deliberation MFT Group will no longer finance the production of NILALANG.
The MFT Group does not believe that there is a suitable replacement for Mr. Padilla and as a result, the prospective timeline for the production of NILALANG will be compromised.
Given the proposed working budget for the film, the non-participation of Mr. Padilla means that MFT (being the main funding partner of Haunted Tower Pictures) no longer believes that the project has a bankable actor as its lead and the absence of immediate alternative means that the production will be delayed to an extent that NILALANG will not be released in time for the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.
Although “Nilalang’s” funding partner released such statement, the MMFF board is yet to make the final announcement of the film’s withdrawal from this year’s festival.
"Nilalang" was supposed to be former Japanese adult video star Ozawa's first movie in the Philippines
In case “Nilalang” does officially back out of the 2015 MMFF, either one of the two reserve entries—namely, “Con Man” starring John Lloyd Cruz or “Lakambini” starring Lovi Poe—can take its place as an official entry.