Darna: Will she be finally back on the PH cinemas this year?

By: Raizza Dauz

The longer we wait, the longer we forget about this cinematic adaptation

Back in 2015, Erik Matti (Director of Buy Bust) signed to direct a new film version of Darna in 2015, hence the time when Liza Soberano’s interview blew up with fans quoting her, “Ayoko na, I’m shy na,” and turning it into memes.

Star Cinema and Matti’s Reality Entertainment co-produced the project and Matti stated that the film is aimed “to revive not just the people who Darna but also with the people who will know Darna for the first time.” Producing a unique storyline posed a challenge to the director, as he did not want to be accused of copying from other big superhero movies such as those produced by Marvel Studios.

Matti envisioned Darna as a coming-of-age story that is serious in tone but with gore aplenty. His approach for this superwoman has to be a 21st-century modern Filipino woman who is strong and independent but at the same time, has her own struggles. Matti added that she’ll be tackling modern-day issues that are faced by everyday women, such as gender roles in society and how she sees herself.

During the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival, a teaser trailer for Darna was shown but the lead actress for the role had yet to be revealed.

Now, a lot of fans, especially the 90s kids, have known two Darna who reprised this superhero in its tv series version, Angel Locsin, who notably played Darna in 2005, agreed to reprise her role when she was approached by Matti. Long-time fans of Locsin have rejoiced because they are going to see this powerful actress in a superhero costume again. However, the fans’ rejoice was short-lived for she was forced out of the project due to a back injury.

Matti expressed his sentiments for where the lamented project was carried as a “burden” following Locsin’s unexpected departure, and explained that the actress was quite irreplaceable as he felt she was highly anticipated for the role.

Several actresses had auditioned to replace Locsin, including Liza Soberano, KC Concepcion, Jessy Mendiola, Nadine Lustre, Sarah Lahbati, and Sarah Geronimo. Liza Soberano replaced Locsin by May 2017, making her the successor to Marian Rivera, who played Darna in the 2009 tv series.

With Liza Soberano being half-American and half-Filipino, a lot of old Darna fans had petitioned that Nadine Lustre should be the lead actress instead because according to them, Soberano does not fit the role for she is not a pure-Filipina. The fans are concerned about her accent, making it even more problematic for the Star Cinema production to set a release date for this film.

On October 2018, ABS-CBN released a press statement announcing that Erik Matti had parted ways with the network as well as Star Cinema “due to creative differences,” and that the studio was closing in on a new director. On the same month and year, it was announced that Jerrold Tarog came on board to replace Matti. In December 2018, Tarog revealed that he had begun working on a new script and costume for the film, the latter of which he said would be “more practical”

Now, with all that background information, we should anticipate it even more because this is going to be fun!