Batang Quiapo is a 1986 Philippine action and rom-com film directed by Pablo Santiago and starring Fernando Poe Jr. and Maricel Soriano. The film is the first and only collaboration between Poe and Soriano, and was Poe's first movie under Regal Films. The film shattered box-office records of its time.
Plot
The "King of Pickpockets" Baldo has just been released from prison and is determined to start a new lease on life. Maria, a young pickpocket making a name for herself in the rough and tumble streets of Quiapo is drawn to Baldo and wants to become his understudy. Action and hilarity ensues as Baldo tries to put Maria through the straight path and along the way help the community rid itself of illegal drugs.
Following the success of the television adaptation of Ang Probinsyano, Batang Quiapo has been pegged by various news outlets as the likeliest next project by series lead Coco Martin and a possible replacement series for the former. The rumors of the possible adaptation of Batang Quiapo as a TV series began when the film's theme, Doon Lang, was performed by Martin in a "duet" with Fernando Poe Jr. as the clip of the scene from the film was being played; said scene originally featured Poe and Maricel Soriano singing in a duet. Martin has himself expressed interest in adapting more of Fernando Poe Jr.'s works for film and/or television, as he had also previously adapted another Poe classic Carlo J. Caparas' Ang Panday which was an entry into the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival. In addition to the interest Martin has in adapting the series for the small screen, several names had been linked to the planned remake as a potential leading lady, such as Liza Soberano and Martin's rumored girlfriend, Julia Montes. Rumors of its supposed impending adaptation further intensified when Martin met with Manila MayorIsko Moreno. The meeting though did not have anything to do with the adaptation of the film but was made to negotiate Moreno's cameo appearance in Martin's 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival entry, However, with Ang Probinsyanos unprecedented run, the show having been extended multiple times, the film's adaptation remains in limbo.
