Background GMA Network tested the movie waters by co-producing films with
Viva Films. Among the movies that were co-produced were
Ober Da Bakod: The Movie,
Forever and
Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko. Although not credited in the opening and closing credits of the movies, the network's logo appeared in the aforementioned movies' posters in theaters and newspaper ads.
1995–2000: Early years In 1995, GMA Network launched its own film outfit
Cinemax Studios under the supervision of
Jimmy Duavit and Butch Jimenez, with
Run Barbi Run (1995) as its maiden movie. Later that year, Cinemax signed a co-production deal with
OctoArts Films in which OctoArts would distribute the movies in theaters nationwide, while Cinemax (through its mother network, GMA) would handle publicity and promotions of the movies for TV and radio. GMA Network holds the airing rights for those movies. Films co-produced with other production companies are distributed by Cinemax. In 1997, Cinemax began producing and distributing its own movies, beginning with
Mga Bangka sa Tag-araw (later on known as
Sa Pusod ng Dagat) and Indios (later on known as
My Guardian Debil). At this time, it partnered with sister companies Film Experts and Optima Digital for production and post-production of its movies respectively. In 1998, it changed its name to
GMA Films after
HBO's sister channel
Cinemax entered the Southeast Asian market.
Sa Pusod ng Dagat and
José Rizal, both produced and directed by
Marilou Diaz-Abaya. GMA Films also produced
Muro-Ami and
Deathrow, both which were entries at their respective MMFFs and also critically acclaimed. In 2000, after the departure of Butch Jimenez from GMA Network, GMA Films was placed on hiatus.
Deathrow was the last film produced.
2004–2009: Comeback and Breakthrough In late 2004, GMA Films made its comeback, with
Let the Love Begin as its first production. It became the highest-grossing Valentine film in the Philippines when it released in February 2005. It later released other films that also became hits in the Philippine Box-office. In 2007, the award-winning film
Ouija co-produced with
Viva Films was supposed to be its first film to be released internationally. However, the scheduled overseas premieres in four U.S. cities (Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego) were cancelled. Only the one in New Jersey pushed through. The movie is titled
Seance internationally. In 2009, GMA Films produced the reboot of the classic
komiks novel
Ang Panday in partnership with Imus Productions. Starring
Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. in the title role, it became the official entry of GMA Films and Imus Productions for the 2009
Metro Manila Film Festival. It became the festival's top grosser and won 6 major awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Revilla.
2010–2012: Continued success From then on, all films were only released nationwide while selected films had selected screenings in key points worldwide such as
When I Met U, starring
Richard Gutierrez and
KC Concepcion had various international screenings and
You to Me Are Everything, starring
Marian Rivera and
Dingdong Dantes had a New Jersey showing in 2010 and its recent film to be released at least within US borders was
In Your Eyes, starring
Claudine Barretto,
Richard Gutierrez and
Anne Curtis, had an international screening in notable cities such as Los Angeles and San Diego. During the 2010 Metro Manila Film Festival, GMA Films' entry
Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote became the top grosser. The film starred
Vic Sotto and
Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. and was a joint production with Imus Productions, M-Zet Production, Octo Arts Films and APT Entertainment. On May 11, 2012,
The Road was released to theaters in the U.S. and Canada. 2012 is the year that GMA Films has produced eight films in a year, the most it has ever done since its very start. This was part of GMA Films' resolution to produce one film per month. Even though that did not happen, they managed to produce eight films. On the same year, It made their own first venture for television was
Cielo de Angelina on the morning slot.
2013–2014: Decline In 2013, GMA Films produced only 2 feature film,
Dance of the Steelbars and
My Lady Boss. Both films performed less than its previous films last year despite a star-studded cast. It distributed the
Cinemalaya 2013 entry
Sana Dati to theaters. In 2014, the film outfit produced the horror-thriller
Basement, the action-thriller
Overtime and the
40th Metro Manila Film Festival entry
Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2, which won 5 major awards.
2015–2016: AlDub phenomenon With the popularity of the
AlDub love team (
Alden Richards and
Maine Mendoza) rising to phenomenal heights in 2015, GMA Films partnered with Octo Arts Films, M-Zet Productions, APT Entertainment and MEDA Productions to produce
My Bebe Love: #KiligPaMore as entry to the
41st Metro Manila Film Festival. The hottest love team was joined by
Vic Sotto and
Ai-Ai delas Alas, directed by
Jose Javier Reyes. The movie figured in a tight race with another MMFF entry,
Beauty and the Bestie for the top spot at the box-office. The movie eventually earned P385 million, breaking box-office records. The said movie also earned 3 major awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Maine Mendoza. In 2016, GMA Films partnered with
APT Entertainment and
M-Zet Productions for the movie
Imagine You and Me, which marked the second team-up of Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza. Shot mostly in
Como and
Verona in Italy, the movie was directed by Mike Tuviera. It was also one of the only two films (the other one is the film adaptation of Angels & Demons by Dan Brown) permitted to shoot in Verona. Upon the movie's release on July 13, 2016, the film grossed over ₱12.8 million on the first six hours of opening day and it went on to gross over ₱21.5 million at the end of the day. 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. Overall,
Imagine You and Me was a big box office hit and had a successful four-week run in Philippine cinemas nationwide. After
Imagine You and Me, GMA Films took another hiatus as parent GMA Network focused on its migration to digital TV.
2019: Brief Revival After a 2-year hiatus, in 2019, GMA revived its film outfit as
GMA Pictures. They also signed a co-production deal with
Mic Test Entertainment, starting with
Family History. It also co-produced the
Cinemalaya 2019 entry
Children of the River with Spears Films and Luna Studios. GMA Pictures also created a new division called
Backyard Productions, with
Kiko en Lala as its first release.
2022–present: Resurgence On April 29, 2022, GMA Pictures signed a joint venture agreement with
Viva Films. In November 2022, GMA Pictures became active once again, in cooperation with
GMA Public Affairs. Among its films released the following year were
The Cheating Game and
Firefly, which was one of the entries of the
49th Metro Manila Film Festival, in which it won as
Best Picture. On July 1, 2023, GMA Network appointed Nessa Valdellon as Senior Vice President for GMA Pictures. Valdellon later promoted as Executive Vice President for the film studio on April 1, 2024. On August 7, 2024, GMA Pictures has successfully completed its digitally restored and remastered version of the 1998 movie
José Rizal and was shown at Cinemalaya Festival 2024. On May 19, 2024,
Deadline Hollywood confirmed that GMA Pictures and
ABS-CBN's film outfit,
Star Cinema would collaborate on a film together with
Kathryn Bernardo and
Alden Richards reprising their respective roles as Joy and Ethan from the film
Hello, Love, Goodbye. The film's sequel titled
Hello, Love, Again was released on November 13, 2024 in the Philippines and has become the
highest grossing Filipino film of all time. GMA Pictures and
Columbia Pictures signed a distribution deal on September 5, 2024 to distribute
Green Bones and ''KMJS' Gabi ng Lagim: The Movie'' under the latter studio's Sony Pictures Releasing International banner. The deal marks Columbia Pictures' return to distributing local films in the Philippines after an eight-year hiatus.
Green Bones, an entry of the
2024 Metro Manila Film Festival, won the festival's
Best Picture award, marking the first time that GMA Pictures achieved back-to-back wins for the award (following their win at the previous year's edition with
Firefly) since both
José Rizal and
Muro-Ami did in
1998 and
1999 editions respectively. GMA Pictures announced their first foray to
adult animated feature films:
Carl Joseph Papa's
docudrama 58th about the
Maguindanao massacre that took place in 2009, and Mervin Malonzo's
dark fantasy Ella Arcangel: Awit ng Pangil at Kuko, based on a 2017
komik Ella Arcangel by Julius Villanueva. ==GMA Home Video==