The ultimate movie marathon

MANILA, Philippines - Dig this: For a cash prize of P100,000, all you need to do is just sit in a really comfortable and cold dark theater with state-of the-art entertainment amenities and watch eight movies for a straight 17 hours.

Easy? But here’s the catch, you must be glued to your seat literally, which means you should not stand up to go to the toilet, eat, drink water and doze off.

It was a test of will and discipline, but in the end, not one but 28 participants out of 100 serious film buffs won Star Movies’ Movie Marathon Year 2 challenge held last Jan. 28 at the Newport Cinemas in Resorts World Manila.

Star Movies organizers were simply amazed at the resilience and determination of the participants to rise to the challenge.

“The Star Movies’ Movie Marathon was a simple yet out-of-the-box promotion that created a lot of buzz for the channel last year. We held it again since the response from our viewers was so good the first time around and of course, we wanted to find out who among them were the craziest and had the most willpower,” said Jude Turcuato, Fox International Channels VP, territory head Philippines.

Chosen from over 50,000 who joined the on-line promotion, the participants were glued to their seats from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 midnight for a non-stop screening of movies courtesy of Magnavision.   

The organizers were expecting a grand winner and never thought that dozens would actually win.

At the struck of midnight, 28 people were still glued to their seats. At 12:30 a.m., the winners were finally proclaimed. These were Aira Villanueva, Alexander Alvarez, Belinda Bartolome, Claire Apostol, Emmanuel Narvaez, Jamie Tan, Jericho Dapula, Joyce Kristine Banzuela, Juanito Cristobal Jr., Kimberly Falucho, Klibshella Baldazo, Kristel Iris Reyes, Leslee Manalo, Luisito Manahan Jr., Meljohn Largado, Myrtle Joy Deocampo, Pablo Cajigal Jr., Patrick Obice, Peter Mark Sempio, Potenciana Laodencio, Rakkel Baccaro, Ranier Santiago, Rennell Santos, Viktor Garry Lee, Virginia Pozon, Christian Celeridad, Joan Christine Macawili and Ellen Mae Abad.

All shared the cash prize of P100,000, aside from the loot bags from Star Movies and other sponsors, plus the well-deserved title as the “Longest Movie Marathoner.”

Jenniffer Pangilinan, who lost in the challenge, said it was very difficult to stay still, even if the surroundings were cozy and comfortable.

“I lost because I had to go to the bathroom to pee. I can endure not eating or drinking water but in the end, I had to answer Mother Nature’s call. There are times when I also felt like sleeping but I was able to control myself. I have only admiration for the winners. The challenge only proves that Filipinos can endure the most difficult odds and emerge winners in the end,” she said.

The Star Movies’ Movie Marathon was sponsored by Fox International Channels in cooperation with Greenwich, Sun Broadband, MagnaVision Home Video, Close Up Fire-Freeze, and the official venue Newport Cinema and Resorts World Manila.