- GMA Network’s “The Cure” tackles the possibility of cancer cure gone wrong
- The series is under the helm of noted director Mark Reyes, who is excited to bring about a new genre on primetime
- “The Walking Dead” is an American post-apocalyptic horror television series developed by Frank Darabont for AMC that is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.
- George A. Romero is an American-Canadian filmmaker, best known for his series of gruesome and satirical horror films about an imagined zombie apocalypse
“The Cure” director Mark Reyes is already expecting the possible comparison of their new show to “The Walking Dead.” The hit US series is set after the onset of a worldwide zombie apocalypse while the newest Kapuso suspense drama series tackles an epidemic that spread out throughout an entire nation.
GMA Network considers “The Cure” as a first in Philippine TV based on their PR releases.
Titled “The Cure,” the ambitious soap aims to replicate settings of cinematic proportions when an experimental drug that kills cancer cells endangers an entire nation with its side effect: The mutation of a dangerous and highly contagious virus called the Monkey Virus Disease or MVD, which causes seizures to those infected, eventually causing them to be rabid and violent.
“The Cure” versus “The Walking Dead”
During the show’s presscon, Direk Mark addressed the comparison between their show and “The Walking Dead.”
“Well, there will always be a comparison. If you say Romeo and Juliet, it’s a love story. Ours is an epidemic drama, it’s a zombie movie. The rest, of course, is for classification. E, we’re here for entertainment, that will never disappear like Encantadia and Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, it will never disappear,” Direk Mark clarified the comparison.
There will always be a comparison, but what makes the show different from the other?
Direk Mark assures, “Yes, because when they watch it, there’s nothing… siguro, the only comparison there is parang may zombie sa Walking Dead, kami may infected. Pero yung story, ibang-iba at saka once you start it, talagang you’ll really get engrossed with that.”
The Kapuso director also gives praises to the show’s actors, “Talagang ang galing ni Tom at ni Jen, I was afraid that we needed to develop the rapport, right in that instant, ganun kaagad, you believe that they’re husband and wife. Yun yung difference, hindi ito yung boy-meets-girl, girl-falls-in-love-with-boy and ganun din.”
Mark Reyes as a “The Walking Dead” and a George A. Romero fan
Direk Mark also admitted that he is a fan of “The Walking Dead” and the American-Canadian filmmaker George A. Romero. “Years back, they already thought of this concept. I’m a fan of the genre. It was just a concept floating around GMA and I’m a Walking Dead fan, I’m a zombie apocalypse, George Romero fan ako, e. Night of the Living Dead (1968), I like that kind of genre and then I did Trip To Ubusan last year so when they gave this to me, I was like, ‘Yehey!'”
“It’s something that I could stuff myself into, yung gulat, yung fright, yung excitement, it came out so I’m very inspired about it, the network gave us the budget and the support so ayan, there you go, it looks like a movie. It was just a concept, wala pang assigned director doon but I was campaigning, sana sa akin mapunta,” he continued.
GMA Network announced “The Cure” as one of the shows supposedly to air in 2013 but it only materialized five years after.
“Well that’s a lot of ano, e, baka may priorities na mas gusto gawin ng management that time siguro kaya namove ng namove back. But I think now’s the proper time to do something like this. Tapos nag Walking Dead, passive na siya, hindi na siya kasing popular as dati. [The Cure] kasi, talagang hindi naman siya zombies. There are so many movies like that: The Strain (TV series, 2014-2017), The Flu (2013), it’s that kind of genre yung sa amin,” Direk Mark
