This first month of 2023, say hello to Xian Lim’s second directorial movie, Hello, Universe!, starring topnotch comedians, Janno Gibbs, Anjo Yllana and Benjie Paras with hot ladies Maui Taylor and Sunshine Guimary.

A story about a man who can’t seem to move on from a failure, this fantasy comedy is also written by Direk Xian, taking inspiration from his personal experience of dreaming to be a professional basketball player before he entered show business.

Janno plays Ariel who is married to his high school sweetheart (Maui), father to a sweet and hardworking young lady (Madelaine), works as a quality inspector in a fertilizer company, and now experiencing midlife crisis.

Ariel feels that if only he had made that winning shot during a crucial basketball game back in high school, his life would have turned out way better.

He is particularly envious of his former rival who is now a famous and wealthy basketball coach.

Luckily, Ariel’s best friend Rocky (Anjo), is always there to cheer him up every time his thoughts are filled with “should have, could have, would have.”

But as they say, repeated thoughts are a great magnet and the universe conspires to help you achieve your dreams.

In the case of Ariel, it takes a magical figure named Jessie (Benjie), with a futuristic jeepney, to let him live the life he’s always dreamed of – in an alternate universe.

In his new reality, Ariel finds himself with a new wife (Sunshine), a new daughter (Majo), but still with the same old foes, Mac Morales (Gene), his arch nemesis in basketball, and Leeroy (MJ), the manager at the fertilizer company.

Join Ariel as the charmed life he has envisioned suddenly becomes chaotic.

Expect lots of gags and laughs, and a touch of drama.

At the story conference held last year, Xian shared his thoughts about having regrets in life, saying, “I try to not look back too much sa mga regret sa buhay, just in the now… Given this opportunity to be with all these wonderful actors, ito lang muna ang focus ko… buong pagmamahal sa pelikulang ito.”

Xian created this film not just to entertain but to also uplift the audience.

This is the kind of film that he himself would want to watch.

Hello, Universe! opens in cinemas on January 25 from Viva Films.