Philippine's ABS-CBN Claims Twilight Remake was a Hoax, but is it Really a Cover-up?

Stories are floating around the Internet claiming that the Philippine version of Twilight called Takipsilim was nothing but a hoax, when in fact, it was reported first ABS-CBN's very own website. This is just their way of covering up a move that would have outraged tons of Pinoy Twilight fans.

Rumors of the making of Takipsilim spread like wildfire across the internet and into the blogs of angered Pinoy fans of Twilight, the popular movie and series of books about a girl falling in love with a vampire. Critics of the proposed Tagalog version of Twilight were equally furious about yet another idea being stolen from popular Western pop culture.

ABS-CBN's Corporate Communication's office issued the following statement:

"There is no truth to the Web reports, particularly in the Perez Hilton blogsite, that ABS-CBN is doing a local adaptation of "Twilight". ABS-CBN will be the first to announce if it is, in fact doing so."

I reported this story on December 25^th, and can say that while Takipsilim wasn't set in stone, it was no hoax. I found the original report on ABS-CBNnews.com, but that page has been mysteriously blocked. It's not gone - just hidden, so to speak. The original link to the announcement was at http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/12/24/08/abs-cbn-bags-rights-local-twilight-remake.

If you follow this link, notice how it says, "You are not authorized to access this page," instead of a 404 error, or a similar page not found error. As a webmaster, I know that if this link was never published in the first place, it would be impossible to get to. The fact that the link is valid, but has been blocked for public viewing speaks volumes.

Now, taking its place is a new article entitled, "ABS-CBN: No truth to Web rumors of "Twilight" adaptation. Same website. How perfectly convenient. This article can be found at http://abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/12/29/08/abs-cbn-no-truth-web-rumors-twilight-adaptation

Besides, would ABS-CBN, who had just bought the rights to Twilight, have gone so far to make this poster of Takipsilim if it weren't true? This looks a little too authentic to be a Photoshop job.

It's my opinion that ABS-CBN was very much aware of the opposition towards filming Takipsilim. Not only was it mentioned on Perez Hilton's blog, the news was everywhere and gathered unwelcome publicity not only aimed at ABS-CBN, but at the entire country for stealing another Western idea that was to be Tagalized to death.

Most Twilight fans first learned of Takipsilim from blogs created by teenagers, and never saw the original announcement on ABS-CBNnews.com, so of course they are going to believe the hoax story. While millions of Twilight fans will be happy to hear of Takipsilim's demise, I think it's pretty pathetic for ABS-CBN not to own up to their poor judgment.

Whatever the case, Filipino Twilight fans sleep easier now that it's confirmed Takipsilim will never come to fruition.