Director Cathy Garcia-Sampana weighs in on KathNiel’s reunion movie 

MANILA, Philippines – Esteemed film director Cathy Garcia-Sampana is “not closing [her] doors” on working with ex-couple Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla for a reunion movie. 

In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Garcia-Sampana was asked if the earlier announced comeback movie of Bernardo and Padilla, more popularly known as KathNiel, will push through following their split. 

“I am not closing my doors doon sa project na ‘yun (on that project.) Kasi syempre, who wouldn’t want a KathNiel movie? But maybe, pwedeng ma-delay, pwedeng mausog lang naman, (Because of course, who wouldn’t want a KathNiel movie? But maybe, it could be delayed or moved,)” she told ABS-CBN News’ MJ Felipe. 

She added that the status of the project will primarily depend on the decision of the stars themselves.

“At the end of the day, it’s the call of the management and KathNiel themselves. Basta ako nandito lang ako (I’m just here) if they need me to do the film,” she said. 

It was in December 2022 when Garcia-Sampana first confirmed that she’ll be reuniting with Bernardo and Padilla for another movie. Details about the film are still kept under wraps, but she told ABS-CBN that it would be “very different” and “new” compared to her previous work with the tandem. 

Garcia-Sampana has directed five of the pair’s major titles since 2013 – Got to Believe, She’s Dating the Gangster, Pangako Sa’Yo, La Luna Sangre, and The Hows of Us. They were also supposed to work together in the movie After Forever, but the project was shelved due to the pandemic. 

Notably, The Hows of Us was Bernardo and Padilla’s last movie together as the two took a break from joint film projects in 2019. They reunited through the 2020 web series The House Arrest of Us and the 2022 teleserye 2 Good 2 Be True.

In 2023, both Bernardo and Padilla also announced separate movie projects. Bernardo headlined the hit movie A Very Good Girl with Dolly de Leon. She’s also set to star in the historical action-drama Elena 1944. Meanwhile, Padilla will headline three new movies from ABS-CBN Films.

In November, Bernardo and Padilla announced that they’d broken up after 11 years of being together. – Rappler.com