'My Ex and Whys' opens to strong PHP 31.5 million; proves the rise of Liza Soberano & Enrique Gil's star power

The day has come. My Ex and Why's starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil opened to a strong PHP 31.5 million on post-Valentines Day. This is the highest grossing non-Vice Ganda opening day gross for a local movie in almost a year. Full report below


A PHP 31 million opening is higher than the most recent blockbuster rom-coms like Barcelona: A Love Untold (PHP 23 million), Imagine You & Me (PHP 21.5 million) but is slightly lower than 2015's Crazy Beautiful You's PHP 38 million which opened on the same week as Ex and Whys.  

After a predictably slow MMFF season and a handful of B-local movies in the market, Star Cinema has unleashed its first monster movie. It was expected that My Ex and Why's will do good numbers. It's the third feature from the Liza Soberano-Enrique Gil love team. The first two films both managed to pass PHP 100 million (Just the Way Your Are & Everyday, I Love You both passed PHP 100 million 2 years ago). Just the Way You Are was released their post-Forevermore movie which made the buzz. My Ex and Why's is the love team's post Dolce Amore-movie and that show ended last August. Fans are hungry for something involving them. PHP 100 million was a guarantee from the start.

The movie was directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. The track record of Molina has been impressive. Alongside the late Wenn Deramas, she has a huge number of blockbuster-directed movies (You Changed My Life, It Takes A Man and A Woman, & A Second Chance are a few). Molina's name is indeed already a brand when it comes to romance movies.

And lastly, the rising popularity of Liza Soberano has been seen lately. The social media is all over her (like Jennifer Lawrence in America). Online hype is not always proven to translate to box office success but it can get the general audience curious for the movie. All of these brought My Ex and Why's to a huge success. Competition seems to be weak as Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick and Lego Batman Movie have already started last week. A total north of PHP 300 million seems likely.


Source: Star Cinema