FOR THE FIRST TIME in years, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) opened without its usual box-office insurance.

The annual Christmas festival, which fills Metro Manila cinemas exclusively with local films from December 25 into the new year, has long leaned on crowd-pleasers built around bankable stars like Vice Ganda, Vic Sotto, and AiAi delas Alas. The 2016 edition left them out in favor of a lineup picked for quality, and everyone watching the money is now watching the festival.

The Question Hanging Over the Festival

Will the MMFF 2016 box office results favor the organizers? Will the earnings prove that moviegoers want quality films, not just commercial ones? Will this year’s festival be a financial success at all?

Nobody knows yet. As the festival opens today, December 25, we’re tracking the box office while we watch every entry for our series of movie reviews. Bookmark this page; we’re updating it as the numbers come in.

Update: Opening Day Box Office Results

The top four films on opening day, in alphabetical order, are ‘Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,’ ‘Die Beautiful,’ ‘Seklusyon,’ and ‘Vince & Kath & James.’

The bottom four are ‘Kabisera,’ ‘Oro,’ ‘Saving Sally,’ and ‘Sunday Beauty Queen.’

Official figures haven’t been released, but our insiders say Star Cinema’s ‘Vince and Kath and James’, starring Julia Barretto, Joshua Garcia, and Ronnie Alonte, is leading the box office. ‘Die Beautiful,’ starring Paolo Ballesteros, is in second place, and ‘Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2,’ starring Eugene Domingo, is third.

Updating…

Read also: our MMFF 2016 movie reviews