MANILA, Philippines – The crazy daredevils of the stunt-prank franchise Jackass are back for Jackass 4, heading to theaters on March 5, 2021.

According to a Deadlinereport, Paramount Pictures has taken over the daring brand created by original Jackass members, Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, and Jeff Tremaine. No official title and cast for the 4th installment has been announced yet.

Knoxville revealed in a 2018 interview with Entertainment Weekly that if they did do a new Jackass film, that it would "have to bring in some new younger guys."

"Just to bring some fresh blood into it. We’re sitting on a ton of new ideas. There was so many that we didn’t get to shoot for Jackass 3. We have more ideas than we could shoot for Jackass 4, I’ll tell you that," he added.

There are 3 Jackass movies to date, starting with Jackass: The Movie in 2002, with co-stars Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O, and Ryan Dunn, who passed away in 2011 due to a car crash.

Jackass Number Two followed in 2006, and Jackass 3D in 2010. Collectively, the franchise earned more than $335 million worldwide. Tremaine directed a 2013 Jackass spin-off, entitled Bad Grandpa. 

The reality comedy franchise features a group of friends performing dangerous stunts and pranks live on cam, either to each other or in public. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Parade of Stars 2019 was already well underway on Sunday, December 22, but one of its biggest stars was nowhere to be seen – until he made quite an entrance in a motorbike.

Vice Ganda, who stars in the MMFF entry The Mall The Merrier, missed the beginning of the parade because he was at the Sunday noontime variety show ASAP. (READ: Vice Ganda to MMFF movie critics: 'Can you imagine Christmas without comedy?')

Many fans who crowded the Taguig sidewalks looked for the absent Vice, who is, after all, an MMFF mainstay. He eventually managed to catch up with the parade as it made its way through Lower Bicutan. Vice arrived in a motorycle – which we all know can be a great way to beat traffic when the transport situation gets desperate.

After the motorcycle caught up with the The Mall The Merrier float, which was the last in the convoy, Vice promptly made his way to the top of the float, and greeted fans from his more visible position, next to co-stars Tony Labrusca and Dimples Romana.

The parade was held on Sunday, kicking off from Lakeshore Taguig and passing through Bonifacio Global City, with the end point at McKinley West.

The MMFF films will premiere in Philippine cinemas on December 25. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Cristalle Belo Pitt and husband Justin Pitt are expecting the arrival of their second child in April 2020.

In a Sunday, December 22 Instagram post, the couple announced the news via a cute bodyguard-themed photo set of their one-year-old son Hunter as the new “kuya on duty.”

"Baby number 2 on the way! Hunter will soon gonna be KUYA HUNTERRRRRR! I hope he knows what’s coming," Cristalle wrote, followed by a laughing emoji.

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A post shared by C R I S T A L L E P I T T (@cristallebelo) on Dec 21, 2019 at 10:36pm PST

"Delighted to announce Hunter will be a 'Kuya on duty' this April 2020!" Justin captioned.

Cristalle and Justin welcomed their first child Hunter on May 28, 2018. The couple wed in September 2016.

Cristalle is the daughter of cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo and Atom Henares. She heads The Intelligent Skin Care, Inc., the maker of Belo Essential. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Parade of Stars 2019 kicked off at around midday on Sunday, December 22.

The parade kicked off from Lakeshore Taguig and passed through Bonifacio Global City, with the stars of each of the competing films greeting bystanders and fans from atop their respective floats.

For many fans, this was their once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their beloved stars in person – and they turned up in numbers to say hello.

Here are some of the stars we spotted at this year's parade:

Vic Sotto, Maine Mendoza and Pokwang for Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity

Joem Bascon, Miles Ocampo, and Rocco Nacino for Write About Love

Jennylyn Mercado and Coco Martin for 3pol Trobol Huli Ka Balbon

Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Meryll Soriano, and Iza Calzado for Culion

Aga Muhlach, Xia Vigor, Bela Padilla, and Joel Torre for Miracle in Cell No. 7

Rhed Bustamante, Mylene Dizon, and Carmina Villaroel for Sunod

Judy Ann Santos and Allen Dizon for Mindanao

McCoy de Leon, Ion Perez, Vice Ganda, Tony Labrusca, Dimples Romana, Lassy, and Elisse Joson for The Mall The Merrier

The MMFF films premiere in cinemas on Wednesday, December 25. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – In 2016, Coco Martin proved that you can live your best life in drag, when he dressed as a woman in the long-running teleserye Ang Probinsyano.

In 2019, he proved it again, when he wore drag at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Parade of Stars.

At the parade, Coco rode atop the float of the MMFF entry 3pol Trobol Huli Ka Balbon, alongside his co-star Jennylyn Mercado. For the parade, he wore a bright orange dress, a bright pink winged headdress, and pastel pink pigtails – with makeup on fleek.

The look refers to his role in 3pol Trobol, where he, as the personal security detail of a government official, goes undercover as a woman as part of a plot to uncover shady government dealings.

His role in the film seems to call back to his Ang Probinsyano gender-bending moment, when policeman Cardo Dalisay, his character in the teleserye, went in disguise as a beauty queen named Paloma to catch a prostitution ring. (RECAP: Cardo Dalisay's adventures in 'Ang Probinsyano')

The MMFF 2019 Parade of Stars was held on Sunday, December 22, in Taguig City.

3pol Trobol Huli Ka Balbon and the other films competing in the MMFF will premiere in cinemas on Wednesday, December 25. – Rappler.com

The most disappointing thing about J. J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is how most of it is guided not by daring ingenuity but by an aversion to any form of risk.

Whimper-like conclusion 

The film is fun and entertaining, which is not high praise considering that even the worst entries in the ever-expanding franchise are fun and entertaining to some degree. (READ: Your guide to 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker')

It is a stubborn retraction of the little but reverberating successes Rian Johnson managed to infuse in The Last Jedi(2017) with its hints of stark disillusionment and the apt democratization of valor and bravery within the franchise’s archaic narrative of hero worship. It frustratingly succumbs to the lowest of expectations, resulting in a whimper-like conclusion to a saga that once meant something but has proven to be just an indentured goose that will just keep on mindlessly laying golden but stale eggs.

The Rise of Skywalker is so beholden to the past, so fearful of relevant novelty that its main narrative involves the return of Palpatine, a nemesis straight out from the first film, to steer the epic back to dull safety. (READ: Latest 'Star Wars' film gets worst reviews in decades)

The decision does its job of allowing the franchise a stab at a tidy resolution, where all the plotlines of its main drivers, which include Luke (Mark Hamill) and Leia Skywalker (Carrie Fisher) from the middle trilogy, Anakin from the dreary first trilogy, and Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Ken Skywalker (Adam Driver), eventually converge in a conclusion where all its twists and turns involving good guys going bad and bad guys turning good are reduced to the propagation of the importance of lineage – which in this age of destiny as a product of individual efforts rather than family names, sends quite a backward signal.

Abrams’ conclusion stands for the status quo.

After Johnson’s thrillingly progressive take on the material, The Rise of Skywalker feels like the ultimate letdown. 

It is a glossy regurgitation of themes that fit the politics of decades ago, making the entire point of producing nine films within several decades a needless endeavor, at least in terms of shaping modern-day mythology. While the repetitive struggles of a ragtag team of rebels spanning several generations against a heartless empire offer some truly memorable surprises, both the rewards and the discourse offered by this culminating episode simply underwhelms. Despite all the expensive spectacles, The Rise of Skywalker is old and musty, unwilling and unable to evolve to suit the egalitarian attitudes of today.

Overwrought fairy tale

In the end, the events of The Rise of Skywalker renders the entire Star Wars saga into an overwrought fairy tale.

Remember that before Star Warsturned into the banner of commercialist Hollywood, it echoed an anti-war sentiment that reverberated in a world that was tired of real wars fought for imperialist endeavors. While Lucas’ film made use of archetypal characters and borrowed extensively from the works of Akira Kurosawa, its simplistic telling of a nobody from the boondocks of a galaxy far far away who rises the ranks to inevitably spearhead a revolution is fitting in a market that is thirsty for modern myths that contribute to a collective sentiment.

Sadly, commerce interfered with the space drama and its politics is replaced with idolatry and capitalist fanfare. 

It is only in The Last Jedithat the saga felt like it was maturing, like it was being offered as a product of the times and a reflection of the moods and philosophies that have changed since Lucas cooked up the tale. 

Abrams’ effort to undo the advances of Johnson’s episode, while truly unfortunate, is a demand that the very nature of Star Wars as a product is inevitable. What is truly more damning about The Rise of Skywalker is that its attempts at finding a middle ground render its bid at relevance petty and forced. The film puts the efforts of rebellion in the background, with the fate of the universe reliant on the success of the belabored and bewildering romance of Rey and Ken, and the few rebel officers like Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) who were only interesting because of whatever they symbolized, which are lost in exchange for the authority they gained within the opposition forces. Other characters are reduced to sound bites and obligatory bids for diversity. 

What truly matters, however, is its end goal of establishing that the fate of the galaxy still hinges on prominent family names rather than the strength of the people.

Depleted value

The depletion of the value of The Rise of Skywalker, despite its supposed pedigree, is its own doing.

It chooses the path of least resistance, offering temporary delights in exchange for a chance to be worth any real discussion. The film opts for fantasy, for being defined by its eye-popping renderings of impossible worlds that become settings to a compelling but ultimately rote soap opera involving the push and pull of goodness and evil within fragile individuals.

Definitely, the film is worth every penny you spend for it, if the ultimate goal is to simply be bathed in sights and sounds that are truly immaculately crafted. However, spectacles are dime a dozen nowadays and it isn’t too much of a stretch to expect more from the series that started it all.

All in all, The Rise of Skywalker is more like the fall of the saga and everything it once stood for. – Rappler.com

Note: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker went on a limited run in the Philippines from December 20 to 22. It returns to Philippine cinemas on January 8, 2020.

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas' Tirad Pass.

Since then, he's been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.

MANILA, Philippines – Every year, some of showbiz's biggest stars come out on the streets of Metro Manila to greet their fans for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Parade of Stars.

With all the road closures that happen, the event almost always causes heavy traffic in the host city – but the fans don't seem to care.

The 2019 parade, held in Taguig City on Sunday, December 22, saw droves of people pouring onto the streets to watch the parade of 8 floats representing each of the competing MMFF films.

Mission Unstapabol: The Don Identity led the convoy, followed by Write About Love, Culion, 3pol Trobol Huli Ka Balbon, Miracle in Cell No. 7, Sunod, Mindanao, and The Mall The Merrier.

Even in the blistering afternoon sun, fans waited on unshaded sidewalks, balconies, and rooftops to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrities.

Stars like Vice Ganda, Maine Mendoza, Coco Martin, Jennylyn Mercado, Aga Muhlach, Iza Calzado, Miles Ocampo, Carmina Villaroel, and Judy Ann Santos also endured the heat – and the danger of being caught in live wires while they stood atop the floats – all for the opportunity to connect with their fans, even for a brief moment.

The parade comes ahead of the actual premiere of the festival films on Wednesday, December 25. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Former Azkals Phil Younghusband and wife Margaret Hall are going to be parents. On Sunday, December 22, the couple announced they are expecting their first baby.

"[Margaret] and I are excited to let everyone know that we are expecting a new addition to the Younghusband family in the Summer of 2020. Mags has just entered her 2nd trimester and so far, she is doing really well," Phil wrote on Instagram.

The photos were taken by Nice Print Photo.

"It has been our dream to be parents for a long time now and for our wishes to come true, we feel truly blessed by the Lord. We hope to be half as good as parents as our Mother’s and Father’s have been to us and those parents we have surrounded ourselves with. 
Thank you to everyone for the support and we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas filled with love and happiness."

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A post shared by Phil Younghusband (@philyounghusband10) on Dec 22, 2019 at 12:43am PST

Margaret wrote: "We are so thrilled to announce that we are expecting baby Younghusband in the Summer of 2020. Carrying a baby is the most incredible feeling and we are so grateful for this beautiful miracle.

"We are so blissfully happy and we will not take this blessing for granted."

Phil and Margaret married in Canterbury, United Kingdom in July. The two got engaged in 2017. 

Phil, who played alongside his brother James in the Azkals, the Philippines' national football team, announced last November that he was retiring from the sport at the age of 32. – Rappler.com

Jun Lana’s Kalel, 15 opens with an overwhelming sense of uncertainty.

World of sin and vice

The first images of the film are of a nondescript hallway of clinic where patients, doctors, well-wishers and other denizens of the facility are going about their own business. Sounds are muffled, with all the noises of the various activities within the hospital merging to form a discomforting drone. Kalel (Elijah Canlas), an alarmingly unconcerned teen, is with his mother (Jaclyn Jose) to hear news of his ailment from his doctor. In the spirit of the elaborately designed air of confusion, the audience isn’t given the specifics of the diagnosis but on the basis of the shamed reaction of his mother, Kalel must be suffering from a disease that has a certain stigma.

This carefully constructed opening of Kalel, 15 makes all the difference.

See, the biggest problem of films that tackle HIV is the propensity to be judgmental. There is always that antiquated need to pinpoint and exhaust the mechanics of the epidemic, to point fingers or worse, to mutate the advocacy into a rallying cry against certain lifestyles. While Lana’s film is not oblivious to clichés, by establishing right from the start that Kalel has HIV, it shifts the attention from the cause of the disease to its more alarming effect not necessarily on the body of the victim but to his humanity.

Lana carefully builds a world of sin and vice, one that trumps the viciousness of Kalel’s affliction. While it would be tempting to examine all the details of Kalel’s life, from his waywardly promiscuous mother to the fact that he was fathered by a Catholic priest (Eddie Garcia) to his alternate and anonymous life in the dark corners of the internet, and turn the film into a puzzle about why the teenager caught the disease, to see the film with such simplistic eyes would prove to be a disservice to the rage that slowly simmers beneath the film’s monochrome images.

Far more complex

It is a far more complex film.

It exhausts not just the emotions of the teenager who suddenly finds himself in between the carefree attitudes of his generation and the demands of his condition but also the soullessness of the society that has bred all the damning clichés that not only pervade films and literature about the disease but are also very real perceptions. Lana builds on the stereotypes and crafts episodes that blend the cruel humor of life with the aching tragedy of Kalel’s fate. 

Lana does not rely on the crutch of easy pity or faux compassion to send his message. 

He allows his characters to be as human as they can. They make mistakes. They become selfish. They enjoy. They bond. They love. They fall.

A complex film can only work if the performances appreciate such complications. Canlas carries the film from start to finish with a performance that understands the importance of subtlety and gestures. Lana doesn’t allow his characters opportunities for grandiose displays of intense emoting, but Canlas does not need to weep or wail to telegraph the angst and anxieties of his misunderstood character. He only needs to seamlessly shift from being the horny and curious social media creep at night to the cool and calm high schooler to reveal the palpable hesitations of the generation. 

Care and caution

Kalel, 15 is powerful. 

It is perhaps Lana’s best work, one where he is required to exercise care and caution in his depiction of a sensitive subject matter. The film is quiet and elegantly shot, but it speaks volumes of the chaos that lie at the heart of a callous society that thrives in duplicity. It demands attention without succumbing to sensationalizing the topic. More importantly, it is fueled by respect as reflected by a depiction of a teenager not as a victim, but as a human being driven by needs. – Rappler.com

Francis Joseph Cruz litigates for a living and writes about cinema for fun. The first Filipino movie he saw in the theaters was Carlo J. Caparas' Tirad Pass.

Since then, he's been on a mission to find better memories with Philippine cinema.

MANILA, Philippines – Vice Ganda may be a mainstay at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), but the comedian says that his film this year is “a lot different” from the MMFF movies he’s done before.

At the MMFF Parade of Stars 2019, Vice told Rappler that the movie is different because it’s the first time he’s done a comedy-adventure film.

He also said that it’s his first time working on a film with his longtime It’s Showtime co-host Anne Curtis. Anne, who is pregnant with her and husband Erwan Heussaff's first child, was not at the parade.

“Sobrang saya, yung mga hindi namin nagagawa sa TV, kasi may mga biruan na hindi pwede sa TV, yung mga sakitan namin, bugbugan, dito talaga namin ginawa,” he said.

(It was really fun because what we couldn’t do on TV – there are jokes we can’t do on TV, our roughhousing, we did it here).

He also said that the film features actress Dimples Romana – known for playing the kontrabida in Kadenang Ginto– doing comedy.

The Mall The Merrier is Star Cinema and Viva Films’ entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival. It tells the story of Moira (Vice) and Morissette (Anne), two sisters who are fighting over a mall that they inherited. (READ: Vice Ganda to MMFF movie critics: 'Can you imagine Christmas without comedy?')

The film is set to premiere in Philippine cinemas on Wednesday, December 25, along with the 7 other competing movies in the 2019 MMFF. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) slapped GMA and other parties with a fine of P890,000 for labor violations in the accident that led to the death of actor Eddie Garcia in June.

The 90-year-old actor suffered a cervical spine injury on June 8 after tripping on a cable while shooting a scene for the GMA teleserye Rosang Agimat in Tondo, Manila.

Following the accident, the actor was rushed to a nearby hospital, then transferred to the Makati Medical Center where he would remain in a coma for two weeks before dying on June 20.

After an investigation, DOLE-NCR said that GMA violated the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Law several times, including not providing a safety officer on location, not providing a first aid responder, and not submitting an incident report within 24 hours of the accident.

In an order signed by DOLE-National Capital Region (NCR) director Sarah Buena Mirasol, GMA was ordered to pay the P890,000 fine, along with Alpha Premier Transport Services, Gapo Special Effects Services, GMA-7 Employees Multipurpose Coop, Renteqaire Enterprises, CMB Film Services, and Shoot Digital Video.

GMA had earlier contested DOLE's findings, saying that they first gave a copy of their incident report to Garcia's family "as a matter of respect." They also argued that the "workplace" covered by the OSH law "is deemed to refer only to those places where services of the employees are regularly rendered."

But DOLE said in its resolution that “GMA should have deployed one of its safety officers in the shooting site of Rosang Agimat, which could have prevented the untimely demise of Garcia."

Garcia's death has opened a conversation on improving working conditions for entertainment industry workers.

In September, Garcia's longtime partner Lilibeth Romero "categorically" said at a Senate hearing on OSH standards that the actor's death was caused by "gross negligence and unsafe working environment and the absence of a medical team on the set." 

The Directors Guild of the Philippines, as well as Garcia's former co-star Rez Cortez, said that the actor's death is a stark reminder for the need for better safety protocols on set.

Garcia's stepson 1-Pacman Representative Mikee Romero said he plans to file a bill to safeguard the well-being of actors on set. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty people lived the dream of thousands on December 12 when they got to meet (and hug) actor Henry Cavill.

Henry visited the Philippines for the first time to promote his new show, the high fantasy series The Witcher, which premiered on December 20. (READ: What you need to know about ‘The Witcher’ series, according to star Henry Cavill and showrunner Lauren Hissrich)

As part of his visit, he held a free admission fan meet at Ayala Malls Manila Bay – and when word of the event got around, many of his fans found a way to make it to the event – holiday rush be damned.

Because the event was first-come, first-served, some fans lined up as early as the night before to enter – and their patience paid off, because the first 20 people in line got a chance to meet Henry, take photos with him, and yes, even give the beautiful man a hug.

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What do you get when you're a superfan who lines up as early as 1am? A hug from @henrycavill, that's what. Watch these fans get the surprise of a lifetime from the White Wolf himself (link in bio). The Witcher drops today!

A post shared by Netflix Philippines (@netflixph) on Dec 19, 2019 at 8:00pm PST

Even those who weren't able to hug Henry still got a treat though – the actor took his sweet time walking down the red carpet, signing every poster that he could, and taking selfies with fans. (IN PHOTOS: Henry Cavill meets 'The Witcher' fans in Manila)

At a roundtable interview with Philippine media on December 13, Henry said it's important for him to do that for fans "because everyone has so much passion and love, and you hear that people have been there since 1 am in the morning, they brought their kids along and stuff."

"It’s no bother to me to spend my time giving the time back, and I appreciate the fans, I appreciate everyone who makes all that effort and who watches my movies and TV shows and stuff, and for me it’s a pleasure to do that sort of thing," he added.

In The Witcher, Henry plays Geralt of Rivia, a superhuman monster-hunter and mercenary who meets Yennefer, a powerful sorceress, and Ciri, a young princess. Together, the 3 navigate their hostile world, called The Continent.

The show is based on a series of novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapowski. The full first season of the show is available on Netflix. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Solenn Heussaff's baby girl is on her way, and the glowing mom-to-be celebrated her last month of pregnancy with a Mexican-themed photo shoot, taken by celebrity photographer Mark Nicdao.

The 34-year-old actress-model shared photos of the creative shoot on Instagram. 

“See you soon #BabyBolz! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the love and effort put into this shoot on a family day," she wrote in one post.

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A post shared by Solenn Heussaff (@solenn) on Dec 21, 2019 at 2:00am PST

Another shot showed Solenn flaunting her bump in a Frida Kahlo-inspired costume, quoting the Mexican painter.

"At the end of the day, we can endure much more than we think we can - Frida Kahlo," Solenn wrote.

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A post shared by Solenn Heussaff (@solenn) on Dec 21, 2019 at 7:11pm PST

Even Solenn's husband and dad-to-be, Nico Bolzico, took to Instagram to express his admiration for his bloomig wife, sharing another shot from the shoot.

"I always thought that @solenn was at her sexiest during 2018... But then 2019 comes and boom! You were so wrong 2018, hundred times wrong," he wrote.

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A post shared by Nico Bolzico (@nicobolzico) on Dec 21, 2019 at 2:17am PST

"Love you so much bebu! I will be always thankful for making us a family! Just to add: not enough budget for a full wardrobe," Nico joked.

Mark Nicdao also posted a few other outtakes from the shoot. "New Portraits for Sos," he said.

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A post shared by Mark Nicdao (@markednicdao) on Dec 21, 2019 at 5:52am PST

The couple announced their pregnancy in August 2019. They wed in May 2016. – Rappler.com

LOS ANGELES, USA – The Rise of Skywalker dominated movie theaters this weekend. But diminishing box office returns, scathing reviews, and a plot that wrapped up the space saga's major story arcs all beg the question – what next for Star Wars?

Marketed as a grand finale to the decades-spanning, nine-film Skywalker Saga, the latest film hauled in $177.4 million domestically on its opening weekend.

While that would be a stratospheric figure for any other film – indeed, it was the 3rd biggest movie opening of 2019 – it is notably less than the last two major Star Wars installments, The Force Awakens, and The Last Jedi.

Reviews were mainly negative, accusing the movie of falling back on the same overworn Star Wars tropes.

A fear of franchise fatigue has already led Disney boss Bob Iger to signal a slowdown in releases, admitting his previous plan to produce a new Star Wars each year was "a little too much, too fast."

Nonetheless, Iger was bullish about future Star Wars films at last week's world premiere, telling AFP that "this is just the beginning," with potentially "endless" more stories on the way.

"We know that fans will want another film, or another few films, and we'll make them," he said.

"But as I've said for a long time about movie making, it's really important not to make a film until it's ready... And don't release it until it's really finished and you feel great about it.

"So we're in no rush."

New characters, new worlds

Details of what is in store remain tightly under wraps and are the subject of much speculation.

Currently, no Star Wars films appear on Disney's release slate until December 2022, to be followed by further untitled movies in 2024 and 2026.

Doug Chiang, Lucasfilm vice-president and executive creative director, confirmed to AFP he is already working on design ideas for a new Star Wars movie.

"Now that the 'Skywalker saga' is done, we can actually push on and discover new characters and new worlds and new planets. So I find it really exciting," said Chiang.

Who will oversee the project is less clear. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss had been due to head up the next trilogy starting in 2022 but dropped out after signing a massive Netflix deal.

A separate, planned trilogy from Rian Johnson – director of the divisive Last Jedi – remains in development.

But Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy said in a recent interview that Star Wars may even seek to move away from the trilogy format. 

"I think it gives us a more open-ended view of storytelling and doesn't lock us into this three-act structure," she told the LA Times.

Kevin Feige, the man behind the extraordinary success of the Marvel superhero films, is set to produce a Star Wars film – but it remains at an early stage of development, she added.

J.J. Abrams, director of The Rise of Skywalker and The Force Awakens, is unlikely to be involved. He recently penned an exclusive deal with rival studio Warner Bros.

'Endless set of tales'

If there is an undoubted bright spot on the horizon for Star Wars, it is the recently launched Disney+ series The Mandalorian.

The franchise's first live-action TV show has proven a hit, not least due to the viral popularity of the impossibly cute "Baby Yoda", known in the show as "The Child". A second season is in the works.

As Disney increasingly focuses on its own streaming platform – a direct rival to Netflix, Amazon and Apple, with more competitors on the way in 2020 – it plans further high-profile Star Wars shows.

Ewan McGregor will return as Obi-Wan Kenobi for one series, while the stars of hit 2016 spin-off Rogue One will also receive their own prequel show.

"As 'Mandalorian' points out, this is just the beginning of what could be an endless set of tales told from galaxies far, far away," Iger told AFP.

"'The Mandalorian' has given us the ability to be even a little bit more patient because we feel we're serving Star Wars fans," he added. 

"And that gives us, I think, the luxury of being even more methodical about this." – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – The Abbott family may have survived the vicious monsters in A Quiet Place, but their travails continue in a sequel film, whose first teaser was released on December 18.

The first film follows a family – parents Lee (John Krasinski) and a pregnant Evelyn (Emily Blunt) and their kids Regan (Millicent Simmonds) and Marcus (Noah Jupe) – as they live in a world that has been ravaged by extraterrestrial creatures that attack anything that makes a sound.

The family survives in isolation, living in silence in a farmhouse even as they search for other surviving humans and figure out how to defeat the monsters. But their relatively peaceful life gets turned on its head when Evelyn goes into labor, drawing the monsters to their quiet abode.

In the brief teaser for A Quiet Place: Part II, we see Evelyn, Regan, and Marcus out in the open once again, following a map and seemingly headed somewhere new.

There’s not much else the teaser shows, but according to Paramount, the family “quickly realize that the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.”

Whatever happens to the Abbott family will be revealed to viewers when the film is released in March 2020. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – K-pop global sensation BTS announced on Tuesday, December 24, that a tour is headed fans' ways in April 2020, and ARMYs are losing their minds on Twitter. 

April 2020. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/pzCm64fA3u

— BigHit Entertainment (@BigHitEnt) December 24, 2019

No tour dates or locations have been announced yet.

However, this hasn't stopped fans from going crazy over the group's possible comeback. 

Ever since the boys took a "long-term musical break" in August 2019, ARMYs have been speculating when the boys would release new music. Their last single was a collab with American artist Lauv, entitled, "Make It Right," which was released in October.

Guess fans can rest a bit easy now, since the announcement of an April 2020 tour indicates that a BTS comeback is possibly heading our way sooner than we think. So, ARMYs, better save up – who knows, the Philippines might just be one of their stops! – Rappler.com 

MANILA, Philippines – The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) has a horror flick pretty much every year, whether it's the long-running Shake, Rattle, and Roll series, a Kris Aquino starrer, or something completely different.

This year, there's only one horror entry in the lineup: Sunod, directed by Carlo Ledesma.

The film, inspired by a call center urban legend, tells the story of a mother who takes a job at a call center to earn money for her sick daughter.

Sunod actors Mylene Dizon and JC Santos earlier described the film as a "new generation" horror flick presenting an altogether different way of making scary movies. But for Carlo, it's his actors that make the film different. (WATCH: Rappler Talk Entertainment: Mylene Dizon, JC Santos on ‘Sunod’)

"I have the best actors," he said, when asked what makes his film different from MMFF horror movies of the past.

"I think it's a new kind of horror, and please watch it because of the performances of all of the actors," he said. "They were all amazing, and I think you will be surprised by how different this movie is."

Starring as the mother in Sunod is Carmina Villaroel, who shared that she didn't prepare for the role in any different way – she just read the script and studied the character.

But for this film in particular, they had to do certain rituals to shake off some of the spooky incidents that happened on set – such as light bulbs bursting, and stuff falling down after midnight – but that they're okay for the most part.

"Siyempre [of course we prayed] a lot of prayers, may mga ritwal kami na ginagawa tuwing shooting (we had rituals we did while shooting)," she said.

"We put ginger sa pocket namin (in our pockets), we wear something red," she shared.

"Tapos may pagpag kami (we shook off the scary vibes), we go to a certain place to make pagpag (shake off the bad vibes) and then we go straight home," she added.

Sunod is premiering on Wednesday, December 25 as part of the MMFF 2019. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – After selling out their first major concert in a record-breaking 3 minutes, SB19 released a banger of new single on Christmas Day.

The Korean-trained P-pop boy band had previously released two songs but their latest release "Alab" is their first official single under their new label, Sony Music Philippines.

SB19 comes back with their 3rd single, "ALAB" (Burning)

Now available on Spotify, Deezer, Google Play Music, Youtube Music and more music platforms!

Let's keep the fire burning! Use the hashtag #AlabSB19#SB19#SB19_JUSTIN#SB19_SEJUN#SB19_STELL#SB19_KEN#SB19_JOSHpic.twitter.com/fthLnkHoUy

— SB19 Official (@SB19Official) December 24, 2019

The track, produced by Han Tae Soo, sings about finding true love and doing whatever it takes to win that person over.

"Here, we thought of fire as our burning desire, emphasizing that there’s no other way to confess your love but to tell the person directly, and that you shouldn’t waste time,” said the band's leader, lead vocalist and rapper Sejun.

SB19 is composed of Sejun, Josh (lead rapper and dancer), Stell (vocalist and lead dancer), Ken (main dancer and vocalist), and Justin (vocalist and visual).

The fast-rising boyband debuted in 2018 with the song “Tilaluha,” and soon gained traction with the video release of their choreography-heavy “Go Up” in July 2019.

In November, the group gained international attention when they landed on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart, which "tracks the fastest accelerating artists" weekly. They ended the year on a high when they topped Google Philippines' list of most searched male personalities in December.

“Alab” is now available on all music streaming and download platforms worldwide. – Rappler.com

PALM BEACH, USA –  Long before taking up residence in the White House, Donald Trump appeared in Home Alone 2 – a turn on the big screen he described as an "honor."

Trump spoke with deployed members of the military on Tuesday, December 24 and one asked him about his appearance in the Christmas film.

"I was a little bit younger, to put it mildly... It turned out to be a very big hit, obviously. It's a big Christmas hit, one of the biggest," said Trump, who had just acquired the Plaza Hotel in New York, where several scenes for the 1992 film were shot.

"It's an honor to be involved in something like that," said the president, who appeared briefly in the movie.

In the film, little Kevin – played by Macaulay Culkin and again separated from his parents – struggles to find his way through the gilded hotel.

He stops a man in a long black overcoat and red tie to ask him for directions to the lobby.

"Down the hall and to the left," replies Trump.

Actor Matt Damon claimed in a 2017 interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the businessman would allow films to be shot in his buildings as long as he received a part.

Trump is thus – most of the time playing himself – in the credits of some 20 films and series, including Zoolander and Sex and the City. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines –  The hosts of ABS-CBN's decades-old lifestyle show F! – Angel Aquino, Daphne Oseña, Cher Calvin – reunited over dinner, 10 years after their last get-together.  

After their dinner together on Sunday, December 22, the 3 ladies commemorated the occasion with sweet photos and lengthy Instagram posts about their long-awaited reunion.

"We were tired, we were hungry but we were unstoppably happy! It’s been a decade since we last got together and if everything works out, we might not have to wait another 10 years to see one another again," Angel wrote.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Angel Aquino (@imangelaquino) on Dec 23, 2019 at 1:53am PST

"It’s a milestone the 3 of us have been waiting for.. @chercalvin we’re so happy and excited for you! Thank you for sharing the beautiful news with us in person so that we were able to see you SPARKLE this Christmas!!!" Angel added, pertaining to Cher's recent engagement.

"It was a Fun and Fab night with my F women.. it’s time to dream of the next big party with you guys.. I can already hear wedding bells!!!"

Daphne also expressed her gratitude over how "the grandest reunions come in the simplest form."

"We couldn't get the perfect shot. The light was low. We couldn't keep still. We just kept laughing. So many giggles. Hard to imagine that we all live in different worlds now but when we are together we are giddy and silly all over again, just like we were 20 years ago when F started in ABSCBN," she wrote.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DAPHNE® www.daphne.ph (@daphneop) on Dec 23, 2019 at 6:06am PST

"Stars aligned in the midst of the mad holiday rush, Cher flying in briefly after a beach trip and magical engagement, Angel on a shoot break. For a few hours we were just us again. I love you ladies. My heart is smiling," Daphne added, followed by hashtags #fgirls4ever and #fgirlsat20.

Cher also shared the moment on Instagram, grateful that "for one night only in all our very hectic lives we made this dinner happen a few nights ago and it’s like no time has passed."

"I am so lucky to have these women in my life. They empowered me 20 years ago to be who I am without apologies. To soar high, to laugh hard, to love with all I have. And to know I will always have this sisterhood. Thank you Daph and Ange for making this such a very Merry Christmas," Cher said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by chercalvin (@chercalvin) on Dec 23, 2019 at 7:24pm PST

"Love you all so much. My heart is full!"

Cher posted a throwback photo of the trio on Facebook, asking her followers: "Did you know that F first aired 20 years ago? 1999. What is your favourite F memory?"

F debuted on ABS-CBN in April 1999. Daphne, Angel, and Cher hosted the late-night segment until 2003, until Cher moved to the United States. Amanda Griffin replaced her. 

ABS-CBN halted the lifestyle series in February 2006. The 3 original hosts reunited in September 2009 for a 10-year anniversary TV special. – Rappler.com