Filipino production companies Fusee and Studio 360 have entered into a strategic partnership to announce their first collaboration, the Tokyo-set action thriller “One More Night to Live.”
The deal was announced at the ongoing Hong Kong Filmart, where producers are meeting with international distributors and co-production partners.
Studio 360 founder Lester Pimentel Ong will direct the film alongside frequent collaborator Ace Wang Yang Bin. A 2027 release is targeted.
This story tells the story of Utah, an illegal Filipino immigrant who survives on the fringes of Japanese society. After his mother dies, he tries to settle accounts with his estranged family and recover unpaid wages from his employer, Daido, but learns that Daido leads a yakuza organization that views illegal immigrants as expendable items. Betrayed and left with no legal recourse, Yuta enters into a harrowing night fighting against layers of organized crime to free his teenage sister from a human trafficking network.
Underpinning the genre mechanics of this thriller is an incisive examination of status and belonging within Tokyo’s Filipino community. The film draws a clear line between Japineos, who are mostly descendants of Filipino migrant workers who entered the country illegally, and hafu, who hold Japanese nationality by blood or marriage. These fault lines shape Yuta’s psychology and affect his relationship with his younger sister Fukio, who is in a completely different position within the same divided community.
Kali, the indigenous martial art of the Philippines, is positioned to define the film’s action grammar. The film intends to move away from the highly choreographed work typical of genre filmmaking, and instead foreground the practical, weaponized, close-quarters combat techniques that characterize this art form. This creative choice is framed as both dramatic, with Cali as the last thread to Utah’s cultural roots, and a statement about Filipino identity on the global action film stage.
“This is more than just an action movie. It’s a journey through modern-day slavery that exists in the shadows of the world’s cleanest cities,” said Fusee founder Wilfredo C. Manaran. “We are telling the rarely seen story of the Filipino diaspora, the story of the fierce struggle for refuge and belonging.”
Ong said the work aims for a balance between visceral impact and emotional depth. “Our goal with ‘Never Lose Tonight’ is to deliver an exhilarating and emotional experience. Combining Fusee’s grounded storytelling with Action360’s stunt philosophy and Carly’s visceral nature, we are creating a film that resonates as emotionally as it physically.”
Manalan brings a reputation on the festival circuit and a track record that spans both genres. Mr. Fuese co-produced Plan 75, which won the Camera d’Or Special Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and Don’t Cry, Butterfly, which won the Grand Prix at the Venice Critics’ Week. The company also backed “Topakk,” which was distributed internationally under the title “Triggered,” and bowed to Locarno before selling it in global markets.
Studio 360 emerges with strong streaming credentials, producing the Netflix series “Incognito” and the action drama “The Delivery Rider,” which reached #1 trending on the platform. Ong himself competed at the highest level of martial arts, winning a gold medal at the 1995 World Wushu Championships in Baltimore, Maryland.
Wang Yan Bin, who co-directs the film with Ong, is a Singapore-based action filmmaker who grew up in Henan province and trained in Shaolin Kung Fu as a child. The two have built a collaborative relationship across multiple productions, and the partnership between Fusee and Studio 360 extends that dynamic to the broader creative framework of Singapore and the Philippines.
