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MANILA – November 18, 2013 – When you’ve directed a feature film that has pleased both the critics and the general moviegoing public and has earned a standing ovation at Cannes, it’s impossible for your life to ever be the same.
The way Erik Matti puts it, his film, On the Job, gave his production company, Reality Entertainment, a new direction. But the gritty action flick, arguably the most talked about movie of the year, turned not only Reality on its head, but the film industry in general, opening audiences up to the idea that not all blockbuster films have to be romantic comedies with love songs for titles.
"We’ve been pushing for a kind of brand for the films that we want to make, and it has been an uphill climb for all of us because it’s not the ones that usually make money, it demands a lot more savvy na marketing style to sell it," Matti told adobo in an interview at a special screening at Power Plant Cinema last November 15.
"What OTJ really gave us, the success internationally, with Cannes, with the remake, is that now people are open in the Philippines to co-produce and make films that are like this that before, nobody wanted to gamble on it and risk their money," he said.
Fresh from On the Job‘s success, Matti has wasted no time and is already working on several projects that he says are "quite ambitious."
"Ambitious not just in terms of scale, but in terms of themes," Matti explained. "We can now talk about more important themes, packaged in an exciting, watchable, accessible film without really going artsy-fartsy."
He describes his next film as a thriller with a "Bourne quality," a fictitious story of the government’s inner workings, told from the perspective of an everyman.
"It’s fictional, but we’ve picked out certain personalities and even events, we’re referencing events and moments," he said.
Aside from this film, Matti is also looking forward to the Hollywood remake of On the Job, which will be co-produced by XYZ Films and Blueeyes Productions, the production company of 2 Guns director Baltasar Kormákur, who has signed on to direct.
Matti shared that while they have no say in how the remake will be produced, he has been thinking of who they could cast in the pivotal roles of Tatang, Daniel, and Francis Coronel.
Tatang, the more experienced hitman played by Joel Torre, he imagined could be played in the remake by Denzel Washington, who recently worked with Kormákur on 2 Guns. He also said that Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame would also be perfect for the role.
Daniel, Tatang’s trainee played by Gerald Anderson, was harder for Matti to think of a Hollywood counterpart for. Zac Efron, who some have wishfully imagined in the role, would be "too cute," Matti said. He did mention that Mark Wahlberg was rumored to be interested in the role.
As for Francis Coronel, the morally compromised NBI agent played by Piolo Pascual, Matti said he envisions someone like Michael Fassbender playing the role.
Of course, the casting for the Hollywood remake is out of Matti’s hands, and actually, he said that he prefers it that way.
"It is healthier. Kasi you can get stuck helping out the production in two, five years. You don’t know when it’s going to be made. So might as well just let them do their own thing," Matti said. "Anyway, they’ll have to fit it into the psyche of the American sensibility diba? So kami, di naman natin alam yung sensibilities nila, so it’s better that they develop it on their own, they come up with their own take on it."
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