MANILA, Philippines — Director Crisanto Aquino was not surprised when a number of netizens compared the resemblance of his romantic film, “My Future You,” to similar romantic stories in the past, particularly the Japanese animated fantasy film, “Your Name.”
“The story of ‘My Future You’ started from random thoughts,” explained direk Cris. “The initial reaction, when they see a film with the same theme, was normal. That is what we call film tropes. ‘Yung kwento, timeline, we writers use that device to make sub-stories.”
“Let’s say I thought about a certain plot, but it’s about a different timeline, I cannot stop myself from making a new film. So that’s not a big deal for me.”
Apparently, direk Cris had a hand in also writing the story of “My Future You,” which stars this generation’s newest loveteam, Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin, the lead stars of the film.
Francine plays Karen, who exists in present time, while Seth is Lex, an adopted son who survived 15 years ago, in 2009.
Direk Cris is not worried about the chemistry of Francine and Seth, who are making their big screen debut in the romantic fantasy.
“Both of them are aware about what to do on the set,” said direk Cris. “I guide them on what to do in the next scene. You will see they were holding their scripts and they were memorizing their lines.”
“They were discussing what to do. Their guidance is two-way. If I am their teacher and I see what they do, I will give them a grade of 1 right away,” added he.
Direk Cris made his directorial debut in 2019 in “Write About Love,” that topbilled Miles Ocampo, Rocco Nacino and Joem Bascon.
It was followed by the sexy flick, “Relyebo,” with Sean de Guzman, Christine Bermas and Jela Cuenca, as well as the comedy, “Instant Daddy,” with Jerald Napoles in the title role and child star Althea Ruedas.
Co-star Mosang also remarked Francine and Seth are very sweet partners while working in “My Future You.”
“One time, when I arrived on the set when we were still shooting, si Francine, very sweet. She had food prepared for Seth and his yaya.”
“When I watched FranSeth together, their blending together was very ideal. It was built on a good foundation. I just wished that their future together as a loveteam will be great,” continued Mosang.
Although Francine and Seth strongly started as a loveteam, they are aware of that. “It never crossed my mind na mawawala na ang FranSeth,” said Seth. “What if in our next project, we are no longer together? That never crossed my mind.”
“Ang ginagawa ko at plano ko, mas galingan pa namin, so mapatunayan namin na magkasama kami. Hindi kami dapat na FranSeth palagi,” shared he. “We don’t forget that in terms of work. Sa showbiz, siya si Francine Diaz at ako naman si Seth Fedelin at may FranSeth. Malinaw sa amin na ang kay Francine, kay Francine. Ang kay Seth, para kay Seth. Ang sa FranSeth, para sa FranSeth.”
“That was where we started. Tulungan lang kami, so anything happens, kaya namin tanggapin ang mangyayari. Nasa puso ko na palagi kong gusto kasama si Francine. Happy ako when I’m with her.”
Francine credited “teamwork” for the success of their loveteam. “Hindi kami makikilala sa iba’t ibang work namin if not for the love being given to us by our fans and supporters. We know there are younger stars around, but we want to make our fans happy and we want to give them a good example in everything we do.”
Seth expected to finish his studies despite his workload as an actor. He wanted to be a seaman before, but now, he dreams of becoming a pilot. “Ayokong mag-aral then, sasayangin ko ang pag-aaral ko. Mahirap kasi ang maging piloto.”
“My Future You” is rated G, which means for general patronage. “That’s good news,” direk Cris said. “Lahat pwedeng manood. Lahat pwedeng pumasok ng sinehan. Sobrang advantage ng movie.”
Regal Entertainment’s “My Future You” is one of the 10 official entries in the 50th year of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) that starts Dec. 25.