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Director Erik Matti’s On The Job: The Missing 8 will air in the Philippines as part of the HBO Asia Original series On The Job. All six episodes will stream via HBO Go.
The Missing 8 makes up episodes 3 to 6 of the series, the first HBO Asia Original from the Philippines. Episodes 1 and 2 are extended versions of the first 2013 On The Job film. In an interview with Rappler, Matti explained that since it was a series, he had a chance to include footage that didn’t make it to the 2013 version of the film.
Episodes 1 to 3 were released on September 12 while the rest of the season will be streamed on HBO Go beginning September 19.
Episodes 1 and 2 feature additional scenes featuring the convict-slash-hitman Daniel (Gerald Anderson), the cop Joaquin Acosta (Joey Marquez), and NBI agent Francis Coronel Jr (Piolo Pascual).
The first On The Job followed convicts-turned-hitmen-for-hire Daniel and Mario Maghari (Joel Torre) who are regularly smuggled out of prison to perform hits on targets, usually enemies of top government officials.
Joaquin Acosta and Francis Coronel Jr., despite their own disagreements, eventually work together in hopes of figuring out the personalities behind the murder of the drug lord.
On The Job: The Missing 8 is set in the same universe as the first movie, but shifts focus from Manila to La Paz, a small town in the Philippines. The sequel – the last four episodes in the series – follows Sisoy Salas (Venice Film Festival 2021 Best Actor John Arcilla), a corrupt commentator and journalist under the payroll of the town mayor, local political kingpin Pedring Eusebio, and Roman Rubio, a man who’s convicted for a crime he didn’t commit and later becomes an assassin-for-hire, much like Daniel and Mario.
Sisoy and Roman’s paths meet after eight people – among them Sisoy’s best friend Arnel Pangan (Christopher de Leon), godson, and newspaper colleagues – go missing.
Matti had said that after a rut and a pause in post-production, they decided to package The Missing 8 as a series. Around the time editing was about to end, Philippine cinemas were still closed, making a theatrical release impossible.
On The Job: The Missing 8 was pitched to HBO Asia as a series alongside the first movie. A little after that, Matti submitted The Missing 8 to film festivals – Venice was among the first to respond.
“We sent it right before they were accepting any entries, so they said, ‘You’re too early, but you already won. I’m sorry but you’ll have to shut your mouth from January up to the time in July where we announce it,'” Matti recalled.
On The Job: The Missing 8 premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it was met with a standing ovation. The Missing 8 is directed by Matti and written by Michiko Yamamoto. The sequel is produced by Reality MM Studios and Globe Studios, with Matti, Ronald “Dondon” Monteverde, Joe Caliro, and Quark Henares as executive producers. – Rappler.com
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