PORTRAYING a superhero is no easy task.
And James Reid remains hard at work in preparing for his role as Pedro Penduko, this time learning parkour.
The young actor looked determined as he jumped over an obstacle in a photo shared on Facebook Friday as part of his training, as well as in shots of him handling a stick weapon.
The photos were uploaded on the Facebook page of Epik Studios, producer of the “Pedro Penduko” movie, along with a motivational quote: “Nothing worth having comes easy.”
The movie is set to come out next year, although there’s no news yet whether it has already began filming. It is the first in an ambitious lineup of local superhero flicks.
The goal is to create a series of interlinked stories similar to the popular Marvel Cinematic Universe to reintroduce to a new generation of Filipinos forgotten mythological characters.
The Reid-led movie will be directed by Treb Monteras II, director of acclaimed film “Respeto.”
It will be based on the Epik Studios book that re-imagined the myth of Pedro Penduko, handing the “next chosen one” title to a wimpy teen named Peter Harris, who was raised in the US.
His official origin story is as follows: “Peter Harris feels like he doesn’t belong. A Filipino who lived all his life in the US where he grew up being bullied since grade school. Now 20 years old, he has had enough and wants to escape.”
“Just then, his adoptive father passes away in a tragic accident involving something supernatural that nobody can explain.
“It will all unfold to him when he goes back to the Philippines to look for his mother whom he hasn’t seen since he was an infant. When he finds her, he learns that she has been a victim of a curse given by a ruler of Eastern Kasamaan.
“As he embarks on a journey to find a cure, he learns so much more than what he originally set out to discover. That he is no ordinary human, and that he may be the prophesied ‘chosen one’ who will save the entire town from the rising evil that threatens it.
“However, does a loser and a whiny wimp like him have what it takes to take on the role of the new Pedro Penduko?” (ABS-CBN News)
