No doubt about it that the original telenovela from Mexico aired last 1994 “Marimar” was a huge success worldwide. “Marimar” lead actress Thalia totally took the nation by storm.
In the Philippines, GMA 7 did a remake starring the fresh looking Marian Rivera in 2007, this has made Marian the undisputed telenovela queen at that time. The epic success of GMA 7 “Marimar” on its initial remake was the reason why the Kapuso network considered to revive “Marimar” again.
At the proper timing, wherein GMA 7 is struggling to keep up with the good ratings of the nemesis network ABS-CBN, it strategically positioned itself unwillingly against the successful “Pangako Sa Iyo” on the primetime block.
The question in everyone’s mind now would be – is the 2nd “MariMar” remake a flop or a pop?
On this new “Marimar” remake, Miss World winner Megan Young got the lead role while Tom Rodriguez stars as Sergio Santibanez. Considering the phenomenal success of Marian’s “Marimar” on GMA and with an amazing 52.6% viewership on its 2 – hour finale episode how come the second “Marimar” remake is a flop?
There are certain things that the Kapuso Network should consider and one of it is the magnetic star quality value of its lead actress Megan. Does Megan Young equate the charming appeal of Marian in terms of engaging the audience? The answer to this question is quite obvious, sad to say that the magnetic appeal of the second “Marimar” remake is lackluster. Megan Young is struggling to keep up with the demanding role with constant scrutiny from previous “Marimar” fans and perhaps she is not even properly packaged for it.
The new “Marimar” remake has a good lead in terms of viewership with a recorded 25.1% rating on its pilot episode it can safely say that it holds the record for the highest TV rating of a pilot episode for this year. It’s clear that the 2nd remake was a huge success at the beginning even beating ABS-CBN’s “Pangako Sa ‘yo” with only 22.8% rating on its first day. This could be due to the huge fan base of the original and the first remake of “Marimar.”
The latest “Marimar” remake could have evaded failure if only GMA 7 managed to concoct the ‘original recipe’ for its success. Given the conditions and sound considerations, many would say that the old adage “opportunity knocks only once” is indeed true.
