Hello, Love, Goodbye, the highest-grossing Filipino film, was originally a project for Kapamilya loveteam Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil (LizQuen).
The said film was top-billed by Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, but Olivia Lamasan, ABS-CBN Films managing director, revealed that it was [originally] intended for LizQuen.
Lamasan revealed this during her YouTube interview with Toni Gonzaga, where she also mentioned how the film’s storyline came about.
“Yung ‘Hello, Love,Goodbye’ originally LizQuen iyan eh. And then it became Kathryn (Bernardo) and DJ (Daniel Padilla) and then Kathryn and Alden (Richards),” she narrated.
Back then, Soberano was busy preparing for her upcoming Darna movie, which explained why other actors needed to be hand-picked.
“LizQuen iyan but Liza was doing Darna at that time so we gathered. I gathered the creatives, isip-isip tayo. Wala rin ano. Tapos patayo na ako, biglang [lightbulb moment], ‘What’s our next ‘Milan’? What’s our next ‘Anak’? What’s our next OFW story? What if there’s this girl goes to Hong Kong blah blah blah.’ Tapos nagsisisigaw na si Carmi, nagdugtong dugtong na, nabuo na namin ang kuwento. That’s it,” she shared.
Hello, Love, Goodbye follows the story of Joy (Bernardo) and Ethan (Richards), two Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong who meet each other in a bar. Joy tries to distance herself from Ethan. He persists, and both have to make a choice.
Lamasan said that the film’s inspiration was a “message from above” that she got.
“Meron akong mga ganyan. Minsan may mga divine inspiration na bigla lang pumapasok, concepts, stories, bigla lang pumapasok. Sometimes, I would have those under the shower, biglang may concept. Or minsan kapag nakikipag-usap ako, bigla lang pak, ‘yun na,” she said.
Hello, Love, Goodbye is a film directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina and written by Carmi Raymundo. It recently won the ‘Movie of the Year award at the 36th edition of the Star Awards for Movies.
