Everything is set now for the shoot of the Hollywood movie “Freedom Fighters” that will star Senator Manny Pacquiao as Guerilla leader Col. Macario Peralta, the first movie venture of Inspire Studio by Filipino Chinese Entrepreneur Francis Lara Ho, a native of Iloilo and married to Janelle Yo, a Palawenya.
According to Inspire Studio General Manager Mitchell Gimena, camera will roll by March or April of 2020, while locations identified are somewhere in an open field of Brgy. Sta Monica here in Puerto Princesa, Iloilo City and somewhere in Australia.
Freedom Fighters will tell a story of American missionaries that help guerilla resistance in Tapaz, Capiz during World War II, joining Pacquiao in the cast are Cesar Montano, Piolo Pascual, and some famous Hollywood A-List stars like Mark Whalberg, Jim Caviezel and Gary Sinise, the director considered for the said movie are Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner.
But before the filming grinds, a certain Engelbert Kasilag Peralta, who claims as the youngest son of Col. Peralta, took on social media and deny knowledge about the said plan of making a movie about his great father. He also categorically stated that he doesn’t approve of the plan and finds Sen. Pacquiao inappropriate for the role.
Gimena told Palawan Daily News that they are in contact with Peralta family, and was surprised with the said statement. She assured that their producer Ho is now on his way to the Philippines and will deal the issue as soon as possible.
The movie will have a total budget of US$32 million and is targeted to be released in theaters globally by December 2020. This is only the first part of the trilogy that Inspire Studio will produce, to follow is Palawan: The Last Man Out, another post WWII movie that tells the story of Plaza Cuartel origins, and the last one is Open Doors, a film about Jewish immigrants in Manila that also happened during World War II.
Gimena told us that the films they are producing are not religious, rather these are more of inspirational. Ho came up with the idea of producing the trilogoy due to the fact that his grandfather is a Bataan Death March survivor, and that’s where the idea came from. Ho is a nurse in profession that was based for many years in America is also a missionary.
Inspire Studio is a start-up global company and in the Philippines, they are based in Puerto Princesa. It is in contacts and is closely working with various consultants from Hollywood who help them get contacts and arrange many possibilities to make this Filipino produce a world-class one.
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