Established leading men compete for supremacy

Piolo Pascual

These are interesting times for Piolo Pascual, Jericho Rosales and John Lloyd Cruz. They’ve established themselves as the “maturing” TV-film leading men to beat, so it’s instructive to see what the new entertainment season will bring for them.

Right off the bat, Piolo has set the competitive bar with his huge hit, “Starting Over Again,” which could end up breaking attendance records. What can his principal rivals do to catch up?

Jericho also has a new film, “ABNKKBSNPLAko,” but it isn’t pulling in the crowds as much, and his new teleserye, “The Legal Wife” with Angel Locsin, is just starting to heat up.

As for John Lloyd, his weekly sitcom, “Home, Sweetie Home,” is droll enough, but it’s no break-the-bank blockbuster, either. Clearly, for the first quarter of 2014, at least, “Papa” Piolo rules the roost.

Not to worry, JL fans, your favorite screen charmer has a couple of rom-coms in the works this year, and given his sizzling track record in the film type, they can be expected to hit it big at the tills.

Maybe not as big as Piolo’s “Starting Over Again,” which is outperforming everything else around, but good enough for a respectable second place ending for JL at season’s end. After all, he’s even better at the rom-com game than Papa P., so trust him, he knows exactly what to do.

The big “problem,” if we can call it that, is Jericho’s present situation—or, more precisely, predicament: With outright hits eluding him both on the big and small screens is he destined to end up on third place? Given the actor’s talents and savvy, that just doesn’t feel right.

After all, he’s the most gifted and versatile actor in their triumvirate of top leading men, so why should he settle for the “Mr. Friendship” slot?

Blame it on a number of past events and factors that have caught up with him and unfortunately eroded his obvious advantage over his rivals:

First, his “Panday” TV series didn’t do as well as expected. The fault wasn’t entirely his, but the blame was unfairly placed at his doorstep.

Second, he would occasionally fly off to pursue other interests, making some people think that he wasn’t being as serious about his career as he should have been.

Third, he fell in love and announced plans to get married, disappointing some “fantasizing” fans.

However, we believe that Jericho can still catch up with his stellar competition if he can find an indie project that’s truly significant and brings out the best in him, to remind everyone of his exceptional ability, sensitivity and range.

His recent movie didn’t fill the bill because he was miscast in it, age-wise, but there are other roles out there that would be a much better fit for him.

It’s important, however, that he releases that “showcase” project before the year ends, so he can culminate the current season on a convincing career high.