MANILA – Acclaimed director Erik Matti admitted that Star Cinema has yet to find an actress who will replace Angel Locsin as Darna.

In an interview with DZMM on Saturday morning, Matti said he suggested to the ABS-CBN film outfit to hold auditions since the role would require a lot of physical scenes.

“Gusto ko makita kung kakayanin ng artista. Kasi ang hirap na ngayon mag-double. Dati, mga five years ago, puwede pa mag-double sa eksena. Pero ngayon mahirap na with all the Hollywood films that come out where all the actors really prepare for the role. Gusto namin mag-audition,” he said.

Matti said the team behind Darna wants to “veer away from making it just a campy superhero movie.”

“Ang burden nitong Darna na latest is over the past five years, na-bombard na tayo ng Marvel. Mahirap siya execution-wise na kung paano lang din yung dati,” he said.

A photo posted by erikmatti (@erikmatti) on Dec 15, 2015 at 12:48am PST

Despite this, Matti still weighed in on the actresses who are supposedly being considered to play the Filipina superhero.

“Si Liza (Soberano), yes puwede. She has the strength physically, 'yung itsura at katawan. And then tama 'yung edad and you can do a lot of things sa mukha niya. Puwede siya mag-iba-iba ng itsura and she could still look really good. At the same time, Pinay siya na maganda, pan-Asian. Mahirap 'yung mestiza eh,” he said.

As for Nadine Lustre, Matti said he needs to see the “On the Wings of Love” actress in person again.

“Okay din naman si Nadine. Hindi ko pa siya nakikita personal. Hindi ko pa nakikita kung gaano siya katangkad ngayon. Kasi I’ve done two commercials with her a year ago. Hindi ko lang alam kung ang height niya ay tama,” he said.

The director also shared what he thinks of Jessy Mendiola and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

“Si Jessy has the built. Maputi lang siya masyado. Personal ko ito na comment ha, hindi ito comment ng ABS-CBN. Maputi lang masyado si Jessy. Pinay dapat,” he said.

On Wurtzbach, he said: “Si Pia, alam niyo bagay na bagay si Pia pero in the history of Darna, hindi talaga umuubra 'yung beauty queen kasi kailangan mo talaga ng regular Pinay woman. Ordinaryo lang na character. Hindi siya kailangan vavavoom, hindi kailangan na stunning.”

As of writing, Matti said there is no target date on when Star Cinema will release Darna yet.

Nonetheless, Matti said in a separate interview that they released a trailer for the upcoming movie so that everyone will be assured that the project will push through even after Locsin backed out of the film due to a disc bulge in her spine.

The short teaser was shown ahead of the screenings of 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival entries, "Beauty and the Bestie" and "All You Need Is Pag-Ibig."

While the trailer did not reveal the identity of the actress slated to play Darna, it did feature clues such as her voice and shots of her figure. Star Cinema has yet to release it outside of theaters.