'Controversial' film 'Maid in Malacañang' to be adapted into series soon
Maid in Malacañang, the Filipino period drama based on the tumultuous last days of the Marcos regime, will soon be adapted into a series.
Director Darryl Yap has confirmed to ABS-CBN News that the 2022 film will be turned into a 16-episode series, with production set to begin sometime in September.
Yap recently attended the 95th birthday party of former First Lady Imelda Marcos held at her house in San Juan. Also in the mix was the Maid in Malacañang cast, including Cesar Montano, Cristine Reyes, Diego Loyzaga, Ella Cruz, and Ruffa Gutierrez.
Marketed by Viva Films as "the most controversial film" at the time of its release, Maid in Malacañang uncovers the undertakings of the Marcos family in the presidential palace 72 hours before they were exiled to Hawaii during the People Power Revolution in 1986.
Montano stars in the film as former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos while Gutierrez took the role of Imelda Marcos. Their children were played by Reyes as Imee Marcos, Loyzaga as Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., and Ella Cruz as Irene Marcos.
They are joined by Karla Estrada, Elizabeth Oropesa, and Beverly Salviejo as three maids of the Marcos family.
Imee previously stressed in an online press conference for the movie that there won’t be "historical revisionism" of any kind in Maid in Malacañang.
"Sa isipan namin, for me at sa aking pamilya, panahon na para magkuwento rin kami kung anong nangyari sa Malacañang, yung nalalaman namin. Hindi natin binabago ang katotohanan. Dinadagdagan lamang ng kaalaman namin," she said.
"We’re not revising anything. It’s totally inaccurate to say that. We’re simply explaining in this film, to some degree, kung ano yung mga pangyayari nung huling tatlong araw," added Imee.
Despite this, certain scenes from the movie garnered much controversy over "misrepresentations." For instance, the Carmelite Monastery in Mabolo, Cebu City criticized a scene where nuns in gray and white habits are supposedly playing mahjong with a yellow-clad woman, presumed to be Cory Aquino, at the height of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
"Let it be known that no one responsible for the production of the movie came to us to gather information on what really happened," Carmelite Monastery Prioress Mary Melanin Costillas told local outlet MyTV Cebu.
As of writing, there are no details on where the original cast of Maid in Malacañang will return for the series.