TBA Studios is adding another historical figure to their cinematic franchise “Bayaniverse”: former President Manuel L. Quezon.
While the first two films of “Bayaniverse” centered around two of the country’s famed generals — Antonio Luna and Gregorio del Pilar — the latest addition to the franchise will center around the Philippines’ second president. Although TBA Studios has yet to reveal the full synopsis of the film, Quezon is set to explore Quezon’s life as a lawyer and soldier prior to stepping into a presidential role, as well as his tumultuous presidential campaign against the country’s first president, Emilio Aguinaldo.

There have been multiple iterations of Quezon on the big screen. In both of the Bayaniverse’s films, Heneral Luna and Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, actor and model Benjamin Alves played a small role as the president of the Philippine Commonwealth. In the latter film, actor TJ Trinidad portrayed an older version of Quezon. In 2018, actor Raymond Bagatsing stepped into the leading role of the biographical drama Quezon’s Game, which centered around the president providing sanctuary to Jewish refugees fleeing from Germany.
Quezon will mark TBA Studios’ first major film production since 2020. Over the last few years, the production company has served as a Philippine distributor of internationally acclaimed films such as the Academy Award-winning Everything, Everywhere All At Once, the Academy Award-nominated Past Lives, and the Palme d’Or-winning Triangle of Sadness, which secured a Golden Globe nomination for Filipino actress Dolly de Leon.
Casting for Quezon’s major and supporting roles is currently underway and production of the film is set to start in March 2025, with a targeted theatrical release in late 2025. The film has the financial backing of the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.