Imagine You and Me

On April 16, 2016, it was announced on the Kalyeserye segment of the Philippine noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! that Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza will be doing a film together.[17] Richards and Mendoza, collectively known as AlDub, first appeared in the 2015 film My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore alongside Vic Sotto and Ai Ai delas Alas. Imagine You and Me will be the first film with Richards and Mendoza in leading roles.[18] The film is AlDub's first anniversary gift to their fans.[19]

The film was planned to be shot in Italy and according to its director, Mike Tuviera, it would be a dream come true for him and of his father, APT top executive Tony Tuviera, to do a film in Italy.[19] The director also said that the film is a tribute to Overseas Filipino Workers who became a big part to the success of Kalyeserye.[20] Mike Tuviera initially wanted an action-horror film for AlDub since he is best known with that kind of genre but the production company insisted on romantic comedy film for AlDub as expected by fans.[19] As for the story concept, there were eight scripts submitted before the final script got approved.[19] It was written by Aloy Adlawan and Renato Custodio.[1]

Production of the film began in May 2016 in Como, Italy.[21][22] According to Como, Italy's website La Provinicia di Como, Richards and Mendoza were accompanied by 35 crew members, along with director Mike Tuviera.[23][24] The shoot in Como, Italy started on May 9, 2016, and ended on May 18, 2016, with the support of the municipality government of Como.[23] There also scenes shot in Verona, Italy[25] where Richards and Mendoza had a scene at the statue of Juliet.[26] It is one of the only two films (the other one is the film adaptation of Angels & Demons by Dan Brown) permitted to shoot in Verona.[19] Overall, according to Rams David of Triple A (the talent agency of Maine Mendoza), 95% of the film was shot in Italy.[27]

During filming, Tuviera used benches in many scenes to honor Kalyeserye creator Jenny Ferre who is fond of benches.[20] He also added that Jasmine Curtis-Smith, one of the film's supporting cast, was sick in the duration of the shoot in Italy and since Curtis-Smith role is a sickly person, the director used Curtis-Smith's situation for method acting.[20]

Maine Mendoza herself, the film's lead actress, wrote the lyrics of the film's theme song with music by Vic Sotto and arranged by Jimmy Antiporda (member of the defunct band Neocolours).[12] On June 16, 2016, Mendoza performed the song "Imagine You and Me" on Eat Bulaga!.[28] A duet version of the song with Alden Richards is also included in the film.

The film's soundtrack, including its instrumental version was released and streamed on July 8, 2016, in the digital music services.[29] On its day of release, the songs lead the charts in iTunes Philippines.[30] It was also released digitally on Spotify and Google Play.[27]

As reference to Kalyeserye, there are several lip syncing scenes between Richards and Mendoza. As background music for their lip sync, they have used several songs including "Magkaibang Mundo" by Jireh Lim and Charlie Puth's "One Call Away."[31] Although Puth's song did not make it in the theatrical release and fans were clamoring to include the scene in the home media release as director's cut.[31]

During the 11th Monthsary and 48th Weeksary of AlDub on June 11, 2016, in Eat Bulaga!, Maine Mendoza sang "Imagine You and Me," the film's theme song, for the first time in live television and a teaser for the film was shown on the Kalyeserye segment of Eat Bulaga!.[28] On June 18, 2016, Mendoza and Richards performed the duet version of "Imagine You and Me" in Eat Bulaga!.[37] Mendoza and Richards personally went to Cebu City on June 22, 2016, to promote their film.[38] The second teaser for the film was shown on June 23, 2016[39] while the full trailer was shown on June 25, 2016, during the Kalyeserye segment of Eat Bulaga!.[40]

The first press conference for the film was held in Cebu City[41] and the second one in Quezon City.[42] There was also a blogcon (or bloggers conference) where cast and the director of the film were asked by bloggers.[43] Imagine You and Me: The Journey, a documentary special hosted by GMA News' Rhea Santos, was aired on GMA Network and worldwide via GMA Pinoy TV on July 9, 2016, on the preempted time of Sarap Diva.[44] An international fast food chain, McDonald's featured Richards and Mendoza in a TV commercial where Alden is heard speaking Italian alluding to the film's setting and language.[35]

The Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines composing people from the Filipino film industry evaluated the film and gave a B grade.[6][47] Having graded B means that Imagine You and Me is of high quality and shall receive 65% tax rebate.[48] Actress Kris Aquino gave a late review of the film through an Instagram post and she was all praises to the director, the main cast and Jasmine Curtis-Smith.[49] Television anchor and host Teddy Locsin of ANC's NoFilter@ANC also reviewed Imagine You and Me and said that the film "is a deft retelling of Romeo&Juliet. Alden&Maine are refreshingly natural, not playing characters as living them."[50] He further said that Mendoza reminds him of Jennifer Aniston.[50]

Mari-an Santos of Philippine Entertainment Portal gave a balanced review as she praised the setting, writers and cast especially Richards and Mendoza's natural performances.[16] On the other hand, she criticized the plot loopholes such as the unsecured smartphone and the portrayal of Gara as Overseas Filipino Worker "could have been better."[16] Oggs Cruz of Rappler described the film as "harmless diversion" and taken note how the writers creatively portrayed the popularity of Kalyeserye within the familiar plots of the romantic comedy genre and how the director complemented the writing prowess.[1] Furthermore, Cruz praised Mendoza's "very relatable charisma" and concluded that "the film’s being well-made just adds a certain justification to all the heightened promises of romance."[1]

Nazamel Tabares, a blogger at Movies Philippines, rated the film 3 stars out of 5 saying that "pleasant all throughout, Imagine You & Me may give nothing new to the pile of romantic comedy films in the Philippines but the film isn't ridiculously written and doesn't overdo the tired genre."[51] Philbert Ortiz Dy of ClickTheCity.com, a lifestyle guide website, rated the film 2 stars out of 5 saying that "without any real investment in narrative gravity, the film would have likely been better off staying cute, leaving all the terminal illnesses to the movies that actually want to do those stories."[52] Ted Claudio, a blogger at Wazzup.ph, had two ratings for the film. As a film in the perspective of AlDub fans, he gave a 5 stars out 5 while for non-AlDub fans, he gave a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stating that it is good dating film "for its great location, story, fun and romance."[53]

On its first day, the film grossed over ₱12.8 million as of 6:00 pm[36] and it went on to gross over ₱21.5 million at the end of the day.[32] It was 2016's highest opening gross for a Philippine film until it was surpassed by the Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla starrer Barcelona: A Love Untold, which grossed ₱23 million according to Star Cinema.[2][7][8] The ₱21.5 million figure grossed by Imagine You and Me reflects ticket sales in the Philippines where most of it comes from the provinces outside Metro Manila.[54] On July 17, 2016, the film reached ₱120 million in ticket sales.[20]