News

A selection of Spanish titles being sold at the European Film Market.

“My Friend Eva,” Cesc Gay

A romantic comedy about Eva, who, after 20 years of marriage, seeks to rediscover love and passion, directed by “Truman” helmer Gay. “Cesc’s films are always highly anticipated. He’s a director who’s given us so much success in the past,” says the film’s sales agent.

S.A. Filmax

*”The Virgin of the Quarry Lake,” Laura Casabé

Set in 2001 Argentina, this film follows Natalia, who uses dark incantations to win back her love, leading to self-empowerment and a dramatic conclusion. A buzz title at last month’s Sundance market.

S.A. Filmax

*”Fury,” Gemma Blasco

A young actress, Alex, grapples with trauma and isolation after a New Year’s Eve assault. Her brother’s misguided support leads them down dark paths, while Alex finds solace in theatre. Headed to SXSW’s global program this year.

Asaltan un furgón blindado atrapado en la carretera por un fuerte temporal. © Disney

Ya está aquí el primer tráiler del thriller de acción Mikaela, que dirige Daniel Calparsoro a partir de un guion de Arturo Ruíz Serrano (Mano de hierro) y que cuenta la trepidante historia de un atraco que se produce durante un atasco monumental en la autopista, provocado por una gran nevada.

Ambientada en la víspera de Reyes, en Mikaela, una tormenta de nieve sin precedentes asola España. En medio del caos de una autopista colapsada, un grupo de atracadores aprovecha para asaltar un furgón blindado. A escasos metros se encuentra Leo (Antonio Resines), un policía en las últimas que no tiene nada que perder. Con la inesperada ayuda de una joven, juntos tratarán de impedir que la banda huya con el botín en una carrera contrarreloj en medio de la tormenta.

La película está protagonizada por Antonio...

Daniel Calparsoro’s Netflix series, Bank Under Siege, takes us back to 1981, when a gang of robbers orchestrated a heist at the Central Bank of Barcelona. The series is inspired by true events, though many fictional plot points have been added, and certain creative liberties have also been taken. The country was going through a political upheaval at that point in time, and there was a state of chaos and uncertainty. A coup was attempted just 3 months before the heist, and so, at first, it was believed that both events were linked. Let’s find out who the mastermind of the heist was, and if the real perpetrators were ever caught and charged.

Spoiler Alert

Was the heist committed by the civil guards?

At the beginning of Bank Under Siege, we saw that, after the attempted coup conducted under the leadership of Lt. Colonel Antonio Tejero, everybody believed that the...

Netflix releases a lot of miniseries every year, and a lot of them fail to justify why they needed to tell their stories in an episodic fashion instead of taking the feature film route. If we take a look at the streaming platform’s 2024 slate so far, Fool Me Once was absolutely atrocious. The Indrani Mukerjea Story seemed like an overlong PR stunt. Baby Reindeer was phenomenal, sure. Eric was so goddamn listless. Ic 814: The Kandahar Hijack seemed like a live-action version of the incident’s Wikipedia page. The Perfect Couple seemed so disinterested in its own story. And then there was The Last Night at Tremore Beach, which spent over 8 hours spinning some elaborate tale and then eventually revealed that maybe all of it had been a figment of its protagonist’s mind. Now, we have Bank Under Siege in our hands. Does it justify its miniseries tag?...

Bank Under Siege (or Asalto Al Banco Central in Spanish), directed by Daniel Calparsoro, is based on true events that shook all of Spain on 22nd May 1981. A group of 11 armed men with masks on their faces entered the Central Bank of Barcelona to rob the bank. While initially it appeared that these were some professional bank robbers, later it was speculated that the criminals might have a political motive. [Spoiler Alert] Most of the things shown in Netflix’s Bank Under Siege are true. Such tragic events did take place in real life, but the creators of the show have taken a few creative liberties, like adding certain fictional characters, and incorporated a few conspiracy theories based on real-life interviews, mainly to dramatize the narrative and take the entertainment quotient a notch above.

In real-life too, the assailants had demanded the release of political prisoners of the country, which made the...

Exclusive: Goodfellas is expanding its footprint into Spain in a new production venture with prolific local producer Enrique López Lavigne aimed at producing ambitious projects with Spanish talent with international appeal.

Bannered Goodapatxe – in a nod to Lavigne’s Apache Films company, which he runs alongside El Studio – the venture aims to get two to three productions off the ground a year.

Details of the first projects are under wraps, but the partners have revealed they are in development on a Spanish historic film noir, a western and science fiction picture and four additional genre feature films directed by young Spanish authors.

Lavigne has been a driving force in the Spanish independent cinema scene for more than 30 years.

He started out as a film buyer for Canal Plus, before moving into distribution at Sogecine. He branched into producing in the late 1990s, taking credits on a host of early films...

Exclusive: Sam Okun Productions has optioned Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich and the Space Race, a historical work from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wayne Biddle, for development as an ongoing one-hour drama series, Deadline has learned.

Based on true accounts, along with additional source material from the book, the show follows a rebellious MIT graduate who shatters glass ceilings to join NASA, where, under the mentorship of Wernher von Braun, mastermind of America’s space program, she becomes a rising star. But while navigating the roiling sexual, social and political landscape of the ’60s and the Cold War, her dream becomes a nightmare when she uncovers Von Braun’s dark past.

The show is described as character-driven, with two intertwined timelines, falling tonally somewhere between Lessons in Chemistry and Oppenheimer.

Bosch‘s Daniel Pyne will serve as showrunner and exec alongside writer-producer Michael Esser, who...

Netflix has announced Salvador, a new drama series created by Aitor Gabilondo and starring Luis Tosar and Claudia Salas. The series, directed by Daniel Calparsoro, will begin shooting in Madrid in September. Salvador tells the story of a father who discovers his daughter’s involvement in a neo-Nazi group and embarks on a journey to rescue […]

Netflix Announces Spanish Drama Series Salvador...

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Netflix's 2024 film The Courier.

Ivns daring escape plan fails, leading to his arrest in Hong Kong, highlighting the consequences of greed and corruption. Betrayal and deceit ultimately catch up to Ivn, as those he trusted lead to his downfall and imprisonment. The movies real lesson lies in the aftermath, depicting the devastating impact of money laundering on Spains economy and citizens.

Netflix's Spanish crime-drama film The Courier (2024) follows a hustler who climbs his way to the top of money-laundering organizations in Spain. Elite alum Arn Piper leads The Courier cast as Ivn Mrquez, who narrates his journey between 2001 and 2010. Refusing to struggle for money like his parents, Ivn begins working as a courier for a woman named Anne and her husband, Franois Letissier, who is in the currency trafficking business. Their operation collides with powerful men like Francisco Escmez (whom Ivn eventually betrays...

One of the great things about Netflix is that even as it contributes to the slow mediocritization of filmmaking, it continues to broaden our collective cultural horizons. Yes, for every Kevin Hart's "Lift," which inexplicably had Netflix viewers enraptured earlier this year, there's a foreign film or series that we'd otherwise never have a chance to see. Last year, Indian thriller "Jaane Jaan" topped the Netflix charts in the U.S. while Mexican series "Thursday's Widows" saw similar streaming success stateside.

Now, it's Spain's turn. The country has had a mixed record when it comes to its streaming exports. Last year, god awful Spanish slasher "Killer Book Club" somehow had the Netflix charts in a stranglehold, but the country somewhat redeemed itself with the Oscar-nominated "Society of the Snow," which hit Netflix in January 2024. Now, España has delivered yet another Netflix hit with "El Correo" or "The Courier."

This...

The Courier on Spanish Netflix boasts a talented cast including Aron Piper, Maria Pedraza, and Luis Tosar. Director Daniel Calparsoro brings gripping storytelling to life with The Courier, a crime-drama that delves into corruption. Follow the journey of a hustler rising to the top of a money laundering scheme in Spain during the transition to the Euro.

The Spanish Netflix film The Courier features a well-rounded cast and characters that make the thriller far more interesting. The upcoming crime-drama follows the story of a hustler who rises to the top of the corruption of the real estate bubble after the euro arrives in Spain. The Courier hit Spanish Netflix at the beginning of the year on January 16, 2024.

The Courier is from Spanish director Daniel Calparsoro, who directed his first feature film, Salto al vaco, in 1995. In addition to this film, Calparsoro has gone on to direct films such as Blinded,...

Madrid-based sales outlet Latido Films has unveiled sales on key titles from its European Film Market and Malaga Film Festival (March 1-10) slates.

Beginning with films in pre-production, Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s true crime courtroom docu-drama Re-creation starring Vicky Krieps has secured pre-sales for Greece (Spentzos) and Portugal (Outsider). The film sees a fictional jury assess the real-life unsolved murder of French TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead at her Ireland holiday home in 1996.

Spy thriller Raqqa from Oscar-winning producer-director Gerardo Herrero has pre-sold to the Middle East (Empire). Herrero’s previous feature, Under Therapy,...

Daniel Calparsoro’s All the Names of God, or Todos los nombres de Dios shows a man’s determination to reunite with his family in the wake of a terrorist attack. The movie dispels the misconceptions that lead to Islamophobia, particularly in recent times. All the Names of God also peeks into the life of a Muslim family whose son is involved in the terrorist attack in the movie and how they’re at a crossroads with their own beliefs and society.

Spoilers Ahead

What Is The Plot About?

All the Names of God portrays the story of Santiago Gomez Lasarte, a middle-aged cab driver living in Madrid with his wife and son. Santiago and his family are still mourning the death of his daughter, who succumbed to cancer a year ago. Since her passing, Santiago has become increasingly withdrawn, burying himself in his work as a coping mechanism. His...

Indie films have scored some impressive figures at Spanish box office this year.

As the Spanish film industry comes together at Valladolid International Film Week (known locally as the Seminici), one of the big talking points will be how to make independent films stand out at the local box office.

Although Spain’s box office in the year to mid-October has grossed €400m, 35% higher than the same period in 2022, it is still 17% lower than the 2015-2019 pre-Covid average.

US studio blockbusters led the charge, headed by Barbie ($35.2m), Super Mario Bros. Movie ($29m), Avatar: The Way Of Water, ($26.9m) Oppenheimer...

Underscoring a renaissance on Spain’s genre scene, a duo of titles – Daniel Calparsoro’s “All the Names of God” and Carlota Pereda’s “The Chapel” – lead the lineup of the second Spanish Screenings on Tour, which unspools at Rome’s Mia forum, taking place Oct. 9-13.

A platform of market premieres, projects, pics in post and potential remake titles, the Spanish Screenings also underscore the ever stronger emergence in Spain of open arthouse titles – Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return,” Arantxa Echeverría “Chinas,” Benito Zambrano’s “Jumping the Fence” and Gerardo Herrero’s “Under Therapy,” which was one of the best-selling titles at March’s Malaga Spanish Screenings.

With titles in Next from Spain set to present trailers, Spanish Screenings on Tour will also position a bevy of anticipated feature debuts, at different stages of production, from Spain’s seemingly bottomless well of new talent, such as Jaume Claret Muxart.

Madrid-based Latido Films has unveiled a slew of sales during the summer, led by standout deals reached on Daniel Calparsoro’s thriller “All the Names of God” and Gerardo Herrero’s comedy “Under Therapy.”

The announcement comes as the 20 year-old company Latido disclosed early sales deals to Javier Fesser’s “Championext,” the sequel to his comedy blockbuster “Champions”- which has become Spain’s biggest box office hit of 2023, scoring €7.52 million ($8.08 million) and 1.2 million tickets sold through Sept. 3, three weekends after its Aug. 18 release.

Latido deal details add some much needed granularity to the state of the non-English language sales scene as major festivals take place at Venice and now Toronto.

A Bullish Summer

“It has been a good summer for Latido. And we hope for an even better fall,” explained Latido CEO Antonio Saura.

“The way the post-covid market works is not only linked to the market events themselves.

“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)

One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and now racking up healthy sales, the story of a family off for a village summer holiday which builds to a moving ode to women’s freedoms. Sales: Luxbox

“21 Paraíso,” (Nestor Ruiz Medina)

Living in an idyllic Andalusia, a couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Screened at Seville and Tallinn. Sales: Begin Again Films.

“All the Names of God,” (Daniel Calparsoro)

One of the big Spanish action-thrillers hitting this Cannes market, from a specialist (“Sky High”). Pre-sold to France (Kinovista), Germany and Italy (Koch Media) with Tripictures releasing in Spain. Sales: Latido

“Un amor,” (Isabel Coixet)

The multi-prized Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words”).

directs Goya winner Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) in a village-set study of an isolated woman’s succumbing to devouring passion. Sales: Film Constellation.

“Ashes in the Sky,...

Few European arthouse-crossover film sales agents have better weathered the ebb and flow of international market dynamics than Madrid’s Latido Films, which turns 20 in 2023.

Proof of that came at April’s Platino Awards, where Latido scored six statuettes, split between an acting double for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and four for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which has already swept Spain’s Goya Awards and scored a French Cesar for foreign film.

Scoring €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, and 327,000 admissions in France, “The Beasts” also rates as one of the top-performing recent Spanish-language movies.

If Latido has survived for so long, insists director general Antonio Saura, it’s because of a core strategy of “working with talent, our search for talent.” Beyond that, other keys have been “collaboration with production companies that understand long-term relationships, and well-established relationships with clients.”

Companies with which Latido has held or holds...

Madrid-based Latido Films has snagged international sales rights to Isaki Lacuesta’s “Saturn Return” (“Segundo premio”) and plans to kick off pre-sales at the Cannes market.

Currently shooting in Granada, the musical drama is set during the ‘90s when the Andalusian city was ground zero for an outburst of cultural effervescence, with the pioneering rock band Los Planetas at the center of it. The film focuses on the creative process behind the recording of their iconic third album, which also took them to New York.

Latido likens “Saturn Return” to “24 Hour Party People,” the 2002 British biographical dramedy about Manchester’s influential music scene, which spawned such bands as Factory Records’ Joy Division, New Order and Happy Mondays.

Based on a script by Fernando Navarro, the writer behind one of Netflix’s most viewed Spanish-language movies, “Below Zero,” the story is set at a time when the group was at its most fraught-ridden moments,...

Exclusive: Jason Priestley has signed on to star in Ctrl Alt Del, an indie drama marking the feature directorial debut of Eastsiders creator Kit Williamson.

The film written by Amir Ohebsion and Arash Homampour, which starts production in L.A. mid-May, is billed as an emotionally charged, character-driven drama following disaffected teen Ava and her estranged filmmaker father Greyson (Priestley) as they try to reconnect in the aftermath of a tragic incident prompted by his latest movie. The film explores timely questions about the responsibility of media in our society, and how what we consume profoundly affects us and the people around us.

Sam Okun is producing through his Sam Okun Productions banner, alongside Ohebsion. Homampour is exec producing, with Nick Lyon, Lachlan Towle, Christian Jean and Constantinos Yiallourides serving as co-producers.

Said Okun in a statement to Deadline, “I was so moved when I first read this gem of a script,...

If you liked the movie, here comes the series with the same people in charge, Daniel Calparsoro as the director and Jorge Guerricaechevarría handling the script, offering us this intense crime thriller which is full of rhythm that we liked so much, and that, on the same creative lines, also give us this spectacular action series.

Starring Asia Ortega, Luis Tosar y Álvaro Rico.

Enjoy.

About the Series

Sky High: The Series offers a little of what everyone expects, and in all the best senses: it knows how to turn a good movie into a highly entertaining series which gives the viewer exactly what he or she is looking for and they won’t end up in the least disappointed.

Eight episodes full of plots at the unique Calparsoro pace, who, without inventing anything, knows how to build this violent thriller full of grit like no one else does,...

Major deals close for Latin American and Spanish content at EFM.

In one of the largest deals done at the European Film Market (EFM) this year for Spanish and Latin American fare, Madrid-based Latido Films has closed a raft of deals on Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s rural thrillerThe Beasts, Rocío Mesa’s magical-realist tale Tobacco Barns and Gustavo Hernández’s zombie horror Virus 32.

A big winner at the Goyas earlier this month and a box-office hit in Spain and France, The Beasts has been licensed to Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), while Hernán Jabes’ erotic crime thriller Jezabel has gone to Italy, and...

It is huge deal for Latin American and Spanish content at the EFM.

In one of the largest deals done at the European Film Market (EFM) this year for Spanish and Latin American fare, Madrid-based Latido Films has closed a raft of deals on Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s rural thrillerThe Beasts, Rocío Mesa’s magical-realist tale Tobacco Barns and Gustavo Hernández’s zombie horror Virus 32.

A big winner at the Goyas earlier this month and a box-office hit in Spain and France, The Beasts has been licensed to Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), Hernández’s zombie horror Virus 32 has been sold...

As the Berlin Festival turns into its final straight, the industry has warmed to a busy, packed European Film Market which at one and the same time has underscored the challenges still facing the international independent film business.

Following by way of an industry wrap, a dozen takeaways on the 2023 Berlin market, including its Berlinale Series Market, an ever more building proposition at the festival.

The Verdict

If the European Film Market is anything to go by, broadly, the international movie market is in some ways making a comeback, despite still vastly challenging circumstances. On Thursday, the EFM reported “record results” of a total of over 11,500 market participants from 132 countries. “It was a rather busy market, with no single must-have, but much mid-sized product,” Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz says of this year’s EFM, noting that Constantin received about 90 project submissions prior to market, “which is a lot.” “There’s...

Over the past 20 years or so, a surfeit of arthouse titles and an older demographic turning away from theaters have worn away at the sales of non-English language films.

Currently, cinema across the world, and especially arthouse, is stuck between a rock — global streamers often paying less, striking fewer worldwide deals and buying fewer finished movies — and a hard place: a pandemic-drained theatrical business for all but a few tentpoles.

“A few years ago, even if a film wasn’t perfect and had limited festival play, it sold at least a little,” says Film Factory founder Vicente Canales. “Now, either a film works, and sells pretty much the world, or it doesn’t work at all.”

Yet Spain’s top sales agents remain broadly optimistic about the future.

For one thing, some films do still do business, led by new titles from star auteurs that have A-festival play, such as...

Closing Japan with Medallion and French-speaking Canada with Axiom and fielding offers for the U.S., China and the U.K, “The Beasts” is on track to shortly sell well over half the major territories in the world for sales agent Latido Films. as

The sales come as Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s rural thriller heads to this week’s Ventana Sur as one of its biggest market highlights.

In further new deals, the Spain-set modern-day Western has also now been swooped on by HBO Eastern Europe and has licensed Poland (Aurora), Hungary (Cinefil), Portugal (Outsiders) and the Baltics (Capella).

These pacts add to prior acquisitions by Movies Inspired in Italy and Imagine in Benelux, Kino Mediteran in ex-Yugoslavia territories and Transilvania Film for Romania.

A Cannes Premiere world bow co-produced by Spain’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Sorogoyen’s Caballo Films with France’s Le Pacte, “The Beasts” ran up 327,125 ticket sales...

Entertainment One (eOne) have sold their first Soanish language series “Operación Marea Negra” to over 60 territories including the U.S. and Mexico (Roku), Austarlia (Sbs), Latin American (AMC Networks Intl), Canada (Teleus) and Spain (Disney-owned Fox channel).

The four-part series is based on the true story of Europe’s first intercepted narco-submarine in November 2019, when three smugglers crossed the Atlantic in a home-made sub-aquatic vessel carrying more than 3,000 kilos of cocaine. After boarding in the middle of the Amazon, they sailed to Europe while enduring terrible conditions including hunger, engine problems and storms before finally being captured on the Galician coast by the Civil Guard.

Álex González (“3 Caminos”) stars as “Nando, the ex-boxer and leader of the pack who turns to trafficking when his other financial options dry up.” Joining him are Nerea Barros (“La Isla Mínima”), Nuno Lopes (“White Lines”), Miquel Insua (“La Unidad”), Luis Zahera (“El Reino”), Xosé Barato...

The Juan Galiñanes-directed title stars Spanish actor Luis Tosar.

London and Paris-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has boarded sales on upcoming Spanish thriller Fatum, directed by Juan Galiñanes, and currently in production.

It stars Spanish talent including Cell 211 and Sky High star Luis Tosar, Unknown Origins’ Álex García, The Skin I Live In’s Elena Anaya and Elite’s Arón Piper, and will shoot in Spain.

Universal Studios will release the film in Spain next year.

The thriller unfolds as a compulsive gambler and an elite sniper meet when a local betting house gets robbed.

Suggesting an appreciable recovery in the dynamism of international film markets, Madrid-based Latido Films has unveiled a raft of deals on its Cannes line-up, led by standout sales for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Cannes Premiere player “The Beasts.”

The Spain-set rural thriller was acquired by Movies Inspired in Italy and Imagine in Benelux.

Co-produced by Spain’s Arcadia Motion Pictures and Sorogoyen’s Caballo Films with France’s Le Pacte, “The Beasts” has also been taken by Kino Mediteran in former Yugoslavia territories and Transilvania Film in Romania.

Meanwhile, fruit of Latido’s strengthening of its remake rights sales strategies, the company has optioned Mexican movie adaptation rights on Nicolás Postiglione’s drama “Immersion” to Paloma Negra Films and Whisky, as a French redo of Gastón Duprat’s Spanish-Argentine drama “Masterpiece” is moving into production.

Also, Latido is in advanced negotiations on further remake rights deals in France, Italy and Mexico,...

Daniel Calparsoro to direct upcoming feature starring Luis Tosar.

Daniel Calparsoro’s buzzy Spanish-language action thriller package All The Names Of God, is selling strongly for Madrid-based Latido Films.

Koch Media has acquired rights for Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, while Kinovista has bought France. Tripictures has Spanish rights.

The film is set to shoot in October and is about a taxi driver played by Luis Tosar, who is taken hostage after a terrorist attack by one of the survivors. Inma Cuesta co-stars as a detective.

Producers are Second Gen Pictures and Wanda Visión.

Calparsoro is an experienced director of...

Daniel Calparsoro to direct upcoming feature starring Luis Tosar.

Daniel Calparsoro’s buzzy Spanish-language action thriller package All The Names Of Gold, is selling strongly for Madrid-based Latido Films.

Koch Media has acquired rights for Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, while Kinovista has bought France. Tripictures has Spanish rights.

The film is set to shoot in October and is about a taxi driver played by Luis Tosar, who is taken hostage after a terrorist attack by one of the survivors. Inma Cuesta co-stars as a detective.

Producers are Second Gen Pictures and Wanda Visión.

Calparsoro is an experienced director of...

Airing on Prime Video from Feb. 25, “Operation Black Tide” puts faces and character backstories to one of the most epic of feats in the annals of narco-trafficking.

The four-part Spanish-Portuguese drama-thriller also says much about the ambitions of the U.S. streamer: Its energetic targeting of local markets, and pursuit of tried and tested talent to explore new genres with notable production ambitions. Following, four key pointers to the latest Amazon series from Spain:

Capturing an Epic Narco Feat

Drug sub actioner “Operation Black Tide” is certainly one example. It hews closely to a dramatic real-life event: the detection on Nov. 24, 2019, off the fjord-indented coast of Galicia, North-West Spain, of a flimsy 70-foot fiberglass semi-submersible, fabricated in a clandestine shipyard deep in the Amazon rainforest.

On board were three tons of cocaine, worth an estimated street value of €123 million ($138 million), and three crew members who had piloted the drug sub...

Since the 1980s Alberto Iglesias has created beautiful, thrilling music for the screen working broadly throughout his native Spain and Hollywood and with a versatile array of directors and genres—underpinned by his iconic collaborations with Pedro Almodóvar. Iglesias' film suites are fashioned with lucious jazz and emotive orchestral poetry. He beautifully balances the tension of theatrical melodrama with voyages into memory and the vibrancy of inner-city life, with its sophisticated glamour and debauched underbellies. This mix provides a healthy dose of Iglesias collaborations with Almodóvar, from their early years with films such as The Flower of My Secret (1995) and Live Flesh (1997) to this year’s Parallel Mothers and The Human Voice (where Igelsias’s key focus was to riff on his Almodóvar themes of the past). Julio Medem’s Sex and Lucia (2001) defines the 2000s moment of contemporary Spanish cinema’s bursts on the global sphere, soundtracked by that early millenium “Igelsias” sound.

Netflix today unveiled a slate of new Spanish content, including two fiction series and a pair of feature films.

The streamer renewed its popular Spanish YA drama series Elite for a sixth season, well ahead of the series’ Season 5 premiere. Created and written by Carlos Montero and Darío Madrona, Elite is one of the streamer’s best performing Spanish originals.

Netflix also confirmed three new holiday-themed installments of the short-form spinoff Elite: Short Stories: Phillipe, Caye, & Felipe, premiering Wednesday, Dec. 15, Samuel & Omar, premiering Monday, Dec. 20 and Patrick, premiering Thursday, Dec. 23.

On the film side, Patxi Amezcua is writing and directing Infiesto (working title). Isak Férriz and Iria del Río star in the pic, which is set on the first day of a national emergency involving a virus and follows two detectives who are called to a small mining town in the Asturian mountains where a young woman who had...

Netflix’s Spanish adaptation of its hit original movie “Bird Box” is coming together.

Cast and a handful of early details were announced for the previously announced project from Àlex and David Pastor. Leading the international cast are Mario Casas, one of Spain’s most bankable leading men who this year won a best actor Spanish Academy Goya Award for his performance in “Cross the Line,” and Georgina Campbell, a best leading actress BAFTA winner for her work in “Murdered by My Boyfriend.”

Casas was also the star of horror thriller “The Paramedic,” one of Netflix’s best performing Spanish original films to date.

Other cast includes Diego Calva (“I Promise You Anarchy”), Alejandra Howard (“Ana. all in”), Naila Schuberth (“Unbroken”), Patrick Criado (“Riot Police”) and Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”), with Lola Dueñas (“The Sea Inside”), Gonzalo de Castro (“La torre de Suso”), Michelle Jenner (“Isabel”) and Leonardo Sbaraglia (“Pain and Glory...

Entertainment One (eOne) has picked up international distribution rights (outside of Spain and Portugal) to Operación Marea Negra, a four-part submarine drama series.

The Spanish-language project comes from Amazon Prime Video and Ficción Producciones. The deal was brokered by Noel Hedges, eOne’s EVP, Acquisitions, International Distribution and marks eOne’s first Spanish-language acquisition.

Set in November 2019 and inspired by real events, the show follows three companions as they attempt to cross the Atlantic in a homemade sub loaded with more than 3,000 kilos of cocaine. While aboard, they fight for survival – battling storms, unpredictable currents, hunger, infighting, and the authorities – in this risky underwater adventure.

Álex González stars along with Nerea Barros, Nuno Lopes, Miquel Insua, and Luis Zahera.

Mamen Quintas and Julio Casal serve as executive producers with Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes. Co-producers are Forta, led by Tvg, and the Portuguese Rtp. The series will be directed by Daniel Calparsoro,...

Building its presence in Europe, ViacomCBS International Studios (Vis) has closed a deal with on-the-rise Spanish production company Fasten Films to co-produce “Pastor,” a social-issue drama.

Created and written by Natxo López, the creator of “Stolen Away” and writer for Mediaset España banner series “Caronte,” “Pastor” will be directed by Spanish film-tv helmer Jorge Dorado, acclaimed for his work on “The Head,” but with credits reaching back to “Anna” and “The Department of Time.”

Billed as “a story of anger, pride, revenge but mostly of love, which will bring the viewers to question where the boundaries between good and bad lies,” the 10-hour “Pastor” turns on a socially-committed and controversial priest who, enraged at injustice, ends up crossing the line to protect his parishioners.

“With ‘Pastor,’ I want to create an overwhelming visual experience to disrupt and move the audience’s conscience. I want ‘Pastor’s’ images to be smelled,...

Netflix and Federation Spain, the Spanish division of Paris and L.A.-based Federation Entertainment, are teaming to produce “Las niñas de cristal,” a psychological drama set against the world of classical ballet that toplines “Money Heist” and “Elite” star Maria Pedraza.

The movie is one highlight in Netflix’s first announcement of a production-distribution slate focused entirely on Spanish original movies. The eight titles it profiles that are moving into production or set for release in 2021 and 2022 are a sign of Netflix ramping up its production of Spanish movies as part of its bet on Spanish scripted TV and movies, with Spain punching above its weight in the number of Netflix originals compared to Spanish subscribers. The Netflix slate highlights:

“Las niñas de cristal”

Alison Parker in “Money Heist” and Guzmán’s fated sister Marina in “Elite,” in “Las niñas de cristal” Pedraza plays Irene, a classical ballet dancer...

Netflix has acquired the rights to this box-office smash with a view to stretching it out into episodes that it will air worldwide, using the same crew as the movie. Sky High was shot in September 2019 (see the news), enjoyed its premiere during the first weekend of the Málaga Film Festival (in August last year) and was released in Spanish cinemas in December, on the eve of the Christmas festivities, after various delays brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. Directed by Daniel Calparsoro and with a screenplay penned by the man who writes (virtually) all action films in Spain, Jorge Guerricaechevarría, the feature starring Miguel Herrán, Carolina Yuste, Asia Ortega and Luis Tosar has so far grossed more than €1.7 million, which makes it a big hit bearing in mind the...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Netflix picks up the rights to Spanish feature “Sky High” for a series adaptation, French crime series “Balthazar” posts record audience numbers for TF1, Mexican filmmaker Juan Ernesto Regalado Morales receives this year’s Guillermo del Toro-backed Jenkins-Del Toro Scholarship, and French journalist Augustin Trapenard announces he’s leaving Canal Plus.

Adaptation

Netflix has acquired global rights to the feature film “Sky High,” the leading Spanish film at the domestic box office over the holiday period, trailing only “The Croods: A New Age” and “Wonder Woman 1984” from abroad, and will develop the IP into a new original series.

Creators Daniel Calparsoro and Jorge Guerricaechevarría will helm the small-screen adaptation, set to pick up where the film drops off. Netflix is teaming once again with the film’s producers, Vaca Films, having previously commissioned the company’s thriller series “The Mess You Leave Behind.

Variety highlights a selection of Spanish titles being moved at this year’s Cannes Marché du Film.

All The Moons

(Arcadia Motion Pictures, Kowalski Films, Pris & Batty, Ilargia Films, Noodles Production)

A period drama about an orphan girl rescued by a mysterious woman who grants her immortality as a vampire.

Sales: Filmax

The August Virgin

(Los Ilusos Films)

A Karlovy Vary Fipresci Prize winner, film revolves around a woman who spends the summer in Madrid. Jonás Trueba’s latest movie, already bought for the U.S. by Outsider Films.

Sales: Bendita Film

Between Dog And Wolf

(El Viaje Films, Autonauta Films, Blond Indian Films)

Berlinale Forum player portrays soldiers from Castro’s Cuban Revolution still training, nearly 60 years later, in Cuba’s Sierra Maestra. Directed by Irene Gutiérrez.

Sales: Bendita Film

The Consequences

(Sin Rodeos, N279 Entertainment, Potemkino, Érase Una Vez)

Writer-director Claudia Pinto Emperador’s follow-up to her 2013 feature debut,...

‘Money Heist’ star Miguel Herrán leads the cast.

London-based production, sales, and finance company Film Constellation has boarded world sales on Spanish heist film Sky High, starring Miguel Herrán (Netflix series Money Heist) and directed by Daniel Calparsoro.

The company will introduce the film to buyers at next month’s online Marché du Film, of which Screen exclusively revealed details last week.

The film is scheduled for a wide theatrical release through Universal in Spain on August 28. Spain’s cinemas have been allowed to reopen since phase two of the country’s coronavirus transition plan began on May 25.

However, few...

London-based production and sales outfit Film Constellation has boarded the Spanish-language caper action film “Sky High” (“Hasta El Cielo”), directed by Daniel Calparsoro (“To Steal From a Thief”).

The anticipated movie is headlined by a strong local cast, including Miguel Herran, the up-and-coming star of “Money Heist,” the Goya-winning actors Luis Tosar (“Cell 211”) and Carolina Yuste (“Carmen & Lola”).

“Sky High” follows the journey of Angel, who leaves his poverty-stricken past behind and meets the ravishing Estrella. While fighting for Estrella’s affection, Angel swiftly moves up the ranks in his new-found life of crime and becomes the target of a tireless police detective.

Film Constellation co-financed “Sky High” and is handling global sales. The outfit will introduce the film to buyers at the upcoming virtual Cannes market in June.

Universal, meanwhile, will give “Sky High” a wide release in Spain on Aug. 28. “Sky High” will be a major local release in Spain,...

As dubbing studios shuttered with Covid-19, Europe’s broadcasters were forced to pull U.S. shows that they couldn’t dub – France’s TF1 with “Grey’s Anatomy” – or, in the case of global platforms, sometimes release foreign series with subtitles but no audio dub.

Dubbing studios are now cautiously returning to work in Spain, France and Germany, though respecting sanitary protocols, such as eliminating physical scripts and installing screens karaoke style.

As the global industry begins gingerly to re-open audio facilities, however, two post-production facilities, both part of the Mediapro Group, have come up with a long-term answer to dubbing challenges that aims to facilitate post-production during and after coronavirus, allowing actors and artists to work remotely, opening up multiple technical and even creative possibilities for post-production audio.

Telson, a 40-year-plus Madrid-based VFX and post-production facility, and Unitecnic, a broadcast S.I (System Integration) and multimedia engineering company, have for...

Madrid — The beautiful game has just got dirtier. Produced by The Mediapro Studio and Directv Latin America, Season 1 of soccer crime thriller “Side Games” (“Todo por el juego”) proved a big swing for the Latin American pay TV/Svod player, the most watched show on its bow on its premium pay TV service OnDirectv and Svod offer Directtv Play.

Announcing this August its carriage of new Ott service Directv Go, the only DirecTV Latin American Original mentioned by Southern American pay TV service Roku was “Side Games.”

Released in Latin America on Oct. 21 and in Spain on Movistar+ from Sunday Nov. 3, Season 2’s trawl through the sewers of the soccer business looks to raise the stakes, broadens the canvas and proves even darker.

Calparsoro has said that he always imagined “Side Games” as a four season series, though each season can be seen on its own. After sale to parts of Latin America,...

Profiles of major Spanish shows at Mipcom. S: International distribution.

3 Caminos

(Ficción Producciones, Beta Film)

Five friends of different nationalities connect on the St. James Way. An Amazon Prime Vídeo pickup, shooting from February.

S: Beta Film

Caronte

(Mediaset España, Big Bang Media)

Legal procedural from Verónica Fernández, creator of Netflix’s upcoming “Hache,” about an ex-cop and an ex-con turned criminal lawyer. Acquired by Amazon for worldwide streaming.

S: Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group, Imagina International Sales

The Countryside

(Mediaset España, Contubernio)

Vegan, choral comedy created by Alberto Caballero (“La que se avecina”) Premiered on Amazon Prime Video España then Mediaset España channels.

S: Mediterráneo

Central Market

(Rtve, Diagonal TV)

Serial from producers of post-Civil War soap“Love in Difficult Times.” A slice of life take on workers at a major city market. S: Rtve

Dangerous Moms

(Mediaset España, Mandarina Producciones)

Black comedy series marking Mediaset España’s best fiction release in five years.

Ubiquitous Galician actor Luis Tosar is working with the tireless filmmaker again after performing in another heist film of his, To Steal From a Thief. Luis Tosar will be featuring prominently on the Spanish cinema listings over the next few months, with turns in Out in the Open (directed by Benito Zambrano), Advantages of Travelling by Train (the feature debut by Aritz Moreno) and the heist thriller Way Down (helmed by Jaume Balagueró – see the news). Right now, he finds himself toplining another film of the same genre: Hasta el cielo (lit. “To the Sky”), the new feature by Daniel Calparsoro, with whom he worked on To Steal From a Thief (another movie about a robbery). Incidentally, Calparsoro is just about ready with Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name, which is slated to be released in Spain...

Charter Communications’ Ott service Spectrum Originals has reached a deal with Spain’s The Mediapro Studio for the U.S. rights to its popular series “Todo por el Juego,” (“Side Games”). The series will debut in the States on July 15.

The Mediapro Studio produced the series, which was developed by popular Argentine screenwriter Eduardo Sacheri, a two-time Argentine Academy Award winner best know for penning the 2009 foreign language Oscar-winner “The Secret in Their Eyes.” It’s showrun and directed by Daniel Calparsoro, who’s features have screening in the main competitions at Venice – “Blinded” and Torino – “Salto al vacío.”

The series is based on the novel “El Fútbol no es Así,” co-written by Laliga president Javier Tebas and author Pedro Torrens. Set in a fictionalized version of a top tier Spanish soccer association, the show turns on a businessman who works his way up to the presidency of a club...

In today’s roundup, “T-Pain’s School of Business” sets an August 6 premiere on Fuse, and Own greenlights a new talks series.

Executive News

Matt Brodlie is leaving his role as director of original film at Netflix to join the Disney+ content marketing team as senior vice president of international content development. In his new role, Brodlie will lead international content development for Disney+, and will develop the content strategy for all non-us markets.

Dates

Season 2 of “T-Pain’s School of Business” will premiere August 6 on Fuse. The new season of the unscripted original, which follows T-Pain as he showcases young entrepreneurs and startups, will see the rapper eat the first robot-made hamburger at Creator Burger and meet the founders of companies such as Xos Trucks, LogicInk, and Black Santa.

Initiatives

TV Land’s series “Younger” has partnered with The United States of Women to share a PSA in support...

“4×4”

(Television Abierta, Mediapro)

First solo feature from Mariano Cohn, this is a pointed social dramedy about a thief trapped in a 4 x 4 by the car’s owner.

Sales: Latido

“Advantages of Traveling by Train”

(Morena Films, Señor y Señora Films, Logical Pictures)

Aritz Moreno’s debut feature, penned by Javier Gullón, revolves around stories told by untrustworthy narrators: a young editor and a psychiatrist who unexpectedly meet on a train.

Sales: Seville Intl.

“A Sun That Never Sets”

(Miramemira, Kowalski Films, 4 A 4 Prods., Tarantula)

Olivier Laxe, 2016’s Cannes Critics’ winner, now plays Un Certain Regard with this arthouse thriller about a convicted arsonist returning to his native Galician forests.

“Baby”

(Fragil Zinema)

A young junkie gives her newborn baby to a child trafficking racket and soon regrets the act. Juanma Bajo Ulloa directs.

“Bikes”

(Animation Bikes A.I.E., Cvc Group, Aleph Media)

The first Spain-China co-production is an animated...