Vic Sotto, Vice Ganda movie headlines MMFF 2026 lineup

The Metro Manila Film Festival on Tuesday unveiled its initial lineup of official movie entries for its 52nd edition, with Vic Sotto and Vice Ganda‘s much-anticipated tie-up headlining the roster.

The Metro Manila Development Authority, which supervises the annual MMFF event, announced the first four films that had made the cut out of the 26 that submitted entries this year — “2nd Miracle in Cell No. 7” from Viva Films, starring Aga Muhlach; “Amir” from GMA Pictures with Dennis Trillo and Glaiza de Castro; “Haunted Carnival” from Regal Entertainment led by Julia Barreto and James Reid; and, “The Greatest Showdown” from Star Cinema and MZET Production.

This last film stars Sotto and Vice Ganda, who joined the MMFF kickoff, held at a mall in San Juan.

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“Eto po talaga yung pinakahihintay namin na maioffer sa inyo ang collaboration namin ni Bossing Vic Sotto. Nitong araw ng pasko, magbibigay talaga kami ng malalaking ngiti at halakhak sa buong pamilya ninyo. Pagtutulungan po ng buong team yan,” Vice Ganda said.

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For his part, Sotto gamely began his speech with “It’s Showdown’s” callout, “What’s up, madlang people?” drawing laughter from the audience.

“It’s good to be back, and back with the best actor, top grosser, Vice Ganda. It is my honor and pleasure. Maraming salamat po. We’re very excited for this project, at ito po’y handog namin sa lahat ng mga manonood ng pelikulang Pilipino,” he said.

For the 52nd edition of the MMFF, three host cities will be sponsoring the festival activities — San Juan and Mandaluyong in Metro Manila, and Bacolod City.

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora vowed to give full support to the MMFF as host, adding that they are excited to plan the traditional Parade of Stars, which will officially kick off the festival in December.

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“Actually yung parade pinagusapan na po namin kanina ni [Mandaluyong] Mayor Menchie [Abalos]. We will finalize the route. It will start in Mandaluyong and end in Pinaglabanan Shrine sa San Juan. So pinag usapan namin with Chairman how to make this year’s parade really exciting, ano ba yung mga pwede naming idagdag na mga gimmick para mag enjoy po ang ating mga mamamayan.

“Something very different this year, we also go to the City of Bacolod. So first time mangyayari… so nag uusap kami how to expand the MMFF, so nag usap kami na magandang maghanap kami ng partner city outside of metro manila, at Bacolod city ang ating nakausap,” at agad naman silang nagbigay,” said Zamora.

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Meanwhile, MMDA chairman Don Artes also announced that the ticket prices for the MMFF movies will limit the price of tickets to not more than P299 for the entire duration of the festival, following talks with the Cinema Exhibitors Association of the Philippines, the group of cinema owners and operators in the country.

Artes also explained why the official MMFF entries will be limited to just eight this year, compared to the 10 of the previous years.

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“Nahihirapan kami to be honest dun sa placement [in cinemas]. Sa ngayon, hindi pa lahat ng movie houses ay bukas. Dati mga 1,000 before pandemic, pero ngayon after pandemic 800 pa lang. So nahihirapan kaming i-distribute sa cinemas equally,” he further said.