The Metro Manila Film Festival announced its first batch of official entries to this year's festival on Tuesday, July 16.

Box office star Vice Ganda is returning to the MMFF with And The Breadwinner Is by ABS-CBN Film Productions and The IdeaFirst Company. The Kapamilya comedian will headline the movie alongside Eugene Domingo.

Another official entry is Strange Frequencies: Haunted Hospital by RealityMM Studios starring Jane de Leon, Enrique Gil, Alexa Miro, and MJ Lastimosa.

GMA Pictures' Green Bones is also an official entry which will be headlined by Sofia Pablo and Dennis Trillo.

Himala, Isang Musikal by Kapitol Films/Unitel starring Aicelle Santos and Bituin Escalante is also an entry.

ATP/MZet and MQuest's The Kingdom starring Vic Sotto and Piolo Pascual will also be part of the film festival.

READ: Vice Ganda starts filming ‘And The Breadwinner Is’ movie

The five entries were chosen based on the scripts submitted to the festival. Meanwhile, the submission deadline for the finished films, from which the other official MMFF entries will be selected, is on September 30.

The announcement of the five MMFF entries was held at the launch of the 50th Metro Manila Film Festival with the theme "Sine-Sigla sa Singkwenta" led by MMFF and concurrent Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Don Artes.

"Hindi ko po masasabing pressure, pero we are elevating the bar, hindi lang sa kalidad kung 'di sa box office. Hopefully, kami ay umaasa mapapabalik natin 'yung mga nakapanood noong nakaraang taon and hopefully mas marami pa ngayong taon," Don remarked as reported by ABS-CBN News.

The MMFF executive also highlighted the contributions that the festival to the entertainment industry through the years.

"Nais kong banggitin na simula 2016, ang mga amusement taxes na nai-waive ng mga LGUs para sa MMFF ay 100 porsyento na inilaan sa ating mga benepisyaryo, tulad ng Movie Workers Welfare Fund (MOWELFUND), Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP), Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council, Optical Media Board (OMB), at Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) - isang pagkilala sa kanilang napakahalagang kontribusyon sa industriya. Ito ay nagpapakita ng ating suporta sa ating masisipag na manggagawa sa pelikula, na nagpapahintulot sa kanila na ipagpatuloy ang kanilang gawain sa larangan ng paggawa ng pelikula," he said as per press release of MMDA.  

The annual Parade of Stars is scheduled for December 15. The MMFF Sponsor's Night will take place on December 21 and the Gabi ng Parangal will be held on December 27.