Bela Padilla, Marco Gumabao, and Rhen Escaño star in the Pinoy adaptation of the Korean blockbuster, Spellbound, which serves as Viva’s pre-Valentine offering.
In the story, Bela plays Yuri, a beautiful woman who has become a ghost magnet since she survived a vehicular accident in high school. The ghosts’ constant presence in her life also causes fear to people near and dear to her. Her family even left her. Yuri is convinced that she’s better off alone given her situation. But a certain magician might just change her mind.
Marco, on the other hand, plays Victor, a street magician, who is actually a non-pro in magic yet is able to attract the audience through his charm. When Victor sees Yuri among the crowd, she winds up being the inspiration for his horror magic show which becomes an instant hit. Finally, Victor gets his big break to become a stage magician. He gets Yuri to play as a spectre in his show. And then one thing leads to another.
Rhen plays Krissy, the most prominent ghost in Yuri’s life. She was Yuri’s best friend who died in a vehicular accident. As she follows Yuri all around, she’ll witness the blossoming friendship between Yuri and Victor. Not happy about it, Krissy makes herself known as the unfriendly ghost.
Spellbound, a remake of the 2011 Korean blockbuster movie of the same title, is the first onscreen tandem of Bela and Marco. They have previously worked together in a movie (Apple of My Eye) written by Bela, while Marco took on the lead role.
Bela shared in an interview that this is the first time that she’s portraying a character that is close to her personality. She admits to being fearful when it comes to ghosts, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the movie goes.
Spellbound also stars Cindy Miranda and Ronnie Liang. Directed by Jalz Zarate, Spellbound opens in cinemas nationwide on February 1.