Bayaniverse

The Bayaniverse (stylized BAYANIVerse) is a series of films directed by Jerrold Tarog and associated with TBA Studios.^[1]

The first feature film of Bayaniverse was Heneral Luna which focuses on the Philippine Revolution general, Antonio Luna. It was based on a 1998 script by E. A. Rocha and Henry Hunt Francia.^[2] Francia died before the film's release.^[3] Eventually, Leo Martinez convinced Rocha to submit the script to the Film Development Council of the Philippines.^[4] Jerrold Tarog, who had separately developed an interest in making a film about Antonio Luna obtained permission to use the script and revised it accordingly.^[5][6] Production for Luna was publicly known as early as April 2014.^[7]

Intentions to create a trilogy around Heneral Luna was publicized by Tarog as early as August 2015. Tarog said there are plans to make it the first of a trilogy if it generated enough revenues.^[8] The first film had its nationwide premier in the Philippines on September 9, 2015.^[9] However the film had prior release in select theaters in the United States and Middle East a month prior.^[8]

In 2017, Artikulo Uno alongside Tuko Film Productions and Buchi Boy Entertainment set up TBA Studios.^[10] The second film Goyo: The Boy General centering around a young Filipino general Gregorio del Pilar of the Philippine–American War was produced with a budget three times bigger than that of Luna. The newly formed TBA Studios as well as Artikulo Uno and Globe Studios are the credited production studios behind the film.^[11] The film was released on September 5, 2018.

Production started on the third and final film of the trilogy, Quezon, in March 2025.^[12] This film is a biopic that dramatizes the life of Manuel L. Quezon, who served as president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his death in 1944.^[13][14] In the film, Benjamin Alves portrays Quezon as a young adult, while Jericho Rosales portrays the older Quezon. Also featured are Iain Glen (as Governor-General Leonard Wood), Romnick Sarmenta (as Sergio Osmeña), JC Santos (as Manuel Roxas), Cris Villanueva (as Joven Hernándo), Karylle (as Aurora Quezon), and Mon Confiado (as Emilio Aguinaldo).

Pre-production of the film began in 2019, with a planned release date of 2022.^[15] Production was delayed after Tarog was tapped to direct the film Darna, which was later cancelled.^[15][16] Subsequent delays were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[12]

A short film bridging the events of Heneral Luna to that of Goyo was released on February 15 in tandem of the screening of the feature film I'm Drunk, I Love You.^[17] The 20-minute short film, titled Angelito, focused on the fate of the brothers Jose and Manuel Bernal after Luna's assassination through the perspective of the third and youngest brother Angel. Art Acuña, Alex Medina, Arron Villaflor and Carlo Aquino reprised their roles in Heneral Luna. Tomas Santos plays the main lead.^[18][19]

For the Bayaniverse, Tarog intended to portray the historical figures in the film series often regarded as national heroes as "flawed characters".^[20] Tarog mentioned that the series was inspired from Nick Joaquin's A Question of Heroes, which discusses the legacies of historical figures.^[21]

The main focus of the two next films after Heneral Luna was already known back in 2015; the other two films would individually focus on Gregorio del Pilar and Manuel L. Quezon.^[8] Tarog also brought up the possibility of a fourth film featuring female revolutionary Teresa Magbanua, who led troops in the Visayas region during the war.^[22]