Alejandro Amenábar: Last News

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Munich-based Beta Film, one of Europe’s biggest truly independent TV-film groups, has licensed to PPCW Media for Hong Kong and Macau International Emmy winner “Atlantic Crossing,” starring Kyle MacLachan and Sofia Helin. PPC Media has also acquired Alejandro Amenábar’s Movistar Plus+ original “La Fortuna,” with Stanley Tucci and Clarke Peters, a tale of piracy, court room battles and historical justice set between the U.S. and Spain. Reaching more remote places, Beta has also closed Mongolia with Hulegu Media, on “Sisi” a mix of sex, politics and period glam from RTL, Beta and Story House, a modern mindset take on a film icon.  

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The teaser has been debuted for “The Captive,” the origin story of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of the novel “Don Quixote.” The historical epic is directed by Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Oscar for “The Sea Inside” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Others.” It will be released by Disney in Spain, while Film Constellation is selling other territories. “The Captive” recently sold to France (Haut et Court), Greece and Cyprus (Filmtrade/Tanweer), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Pro Films), Former Yugoslavia (Discovery), and CIS (Russian World Vision), with buyers circling in North America. The film, which shot last year on locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Film Constellation has revealed the first pre-sales on historical epic “The Captive” by director Alejandro Amenábar, who won an Oscar for “The Sea Inside” and was BAFTA nominated for “The Others.” “The Captive” sold to France (Haut et Court), Greece and Cyprus (Filmtrade/Tanweer), Portugal (Nos Audiovisuais), Bulgaria (Pro Films), Former Yugoslavia (Discovery), and CIS (Russian World Vision), with buyers circling in North America. The film, which shot last year on locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production. It has been dated for release in Spanish theaters on Oct.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Haut Et Court has taken French distribution rights to the upcoming historical epic “The Captive,” directed by Alejandro Amenábar, best known for “The Others” and Oscar winner “The Sea Inside.” The $15 million film, which shot last year at locations in Valencia, Alicante and Seville in Spain, is now in post-production. Film Constellation handles worldwide sales on the film. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures will be releasing the film in Spain.

There are 102 acting credits against Nicole Kidman’s name on her IMDB entry, which also reminds us that she is an Oscar winner, as well as the recipient of more than 100 other acting awards.

Ethan Shanfeld Max and HBO have announced a multi-year deal extension with The Criterion Collection to continue bringing its catalog of films to streaming. As part of the deal extension, a handful of films will also be newly available on Max, including Isabella Rossellini’s “Green Porno” (2008), Héctor Babenco’s “Kiss of the Spiderwoman” (1985), Mira Nair’s “Mississippi Masala” (1991), Alejandro Amenábar’s “Open Your Eyes” (1997) and Nicolas Roeg’s “Walkabout” (1971). The streamer will also add three “Godzilla” titles: Koji Hashimoto’s “The Return of Godzilla” (1984), Kazuki Ōmori’s “Godzilla vs.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent SAN SEBASTIAN — Beta Fiction Spain, the distributor of the opening and closing films at this year’s San Sebastian Festival, Audrey Diwan’s “Emmanuelle” and John Crowley’s “We Live in Time,” has tapped Arantxa Echevarría to direct its banner Spanish feature, “Dolores.” Echeverría has already helmed for Beta Fiction “La Infiltrada,” about a police infiltrator in Basque terrorist org ETA, which bows Oct. 11 starring Luis Tosar and Carolina Yuste.

San Sebastian Film Festival, the biggest film event in the Spanish-speaking world, has unveiled a packed lineup of Spanish titles that is strong on women auteurs, led by Iciar Bollaín, Pilar Palomero, Paula Ortiz and Alauda Ruiz de Azua, who are now stepping up in scale or industry backing as big SVOD players – Movistar Plus+, Prime Video – move into the production of Spanish movies aimed at theatrical release or back their original series. Vying in main competition, Bollaín’s “I Am Nevenka” looks like the first film to see the light of day from six auteur event movies co-produced by Movistar Plus+ and directed by leading cinematographic talent such as Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Alberto Fernández.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent New films by Julio Medem, Alejandro Amenábar, Alberto Rodríguez, Isaki Lacuesta, Jonas Trueba and Oliver Laxe join a brace of smart thrillers in a rich Cannes lineup from Spain. “8,” (Julio Medem) Medem (“The Red Squirrel,” “Julia and Sex”) returns towhat he does best: a love story transcending time and space and a poetic critique of recent history, according to sales agent Latido Films. “Fariña’s” Javier Rey and “La Mesías” Ana Rujus star as the lovers.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Principal photography has begun on “The Captive,” a historical epic from “The Others’” Alejandro Amenábar, starring Julio Peña (“Berlin”) as “Don Quixote” author Miguel de Cervantes, a prisoner of Ottoman corsairs, seen in a very first still from the film, alongside Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), playing his captor, which has been shared in exclusivity with Variety. Paris and London-based production, finance and sales house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent A new film industry superclass is emerging in Spain: movies powered or co-backed by its streaming giants. Perhaps the biggest example, Netflix Spain’s Andes flight disaster “Society of the Snow,” scored two Academy Award nominations last month. Now, in the run-up to Berlin, London-based Film Constellation has acquired most world sales rights to “The Captive,” from Oscar winner Alejandro Amenábar (“The Sea Inside”) and Mod Producciones, a $15 million period adventure epic on the literary makings of “Quixote”author Miguel de Cervantes, held to ransom in a Moorish corsair jail.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Telefonica’s Movistar Plus+, Spain’s biggest pay TV-SVOD operator, is set to co-produce new movies from Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Iciar Bollaín, Alberto Rodríguez, Óliver Laxe and Ana Rujas. It’s a move which sees the high-end Spanish TV powerhouse become one of Spain’s most significant movie players.

Criterion Collection for a month-long 50% off winter sale — with all DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Ultra HD discs marked down, sitewide. We rounded up the best deals on Criterion Collection releases, including Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane,” Spike Lee‘s “Do The Right Thing,” Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco” and much more. In fact, even boxed sets are half off, such as Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “The Dekalog” and Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology.

Emiliano De Pablos In times of dramatic change for the film-TV industry, Spanish auteur cinema is booming, goosed by multiple significant and high-quality titles, reaping prizes, critical praise and profile at international festivals. Beyond the preeminent interest in established auteurs such as Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, J.A.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMoving waves on Spain’s film-TV scene when it launched in early May, Beta Fiction Spain has unveiled its first project as a producer, “Dolores,” a portrait of Spain’s Dolores Ibarruri, a worldwide icon of the workers’ movement and struggle against fascism.The feature film is inspired by “Pasionaria. La vida inesperada de Dolores Ibárruri,” a question-posing non-fiction book by Spanish historian Diego Díaz Alonso published in 2020.Underscoring Beta Fiction Spain’s ability to attach best-of-class Spanish talent, the screenplay for “Pasionaria” is being penned by two of Spain’s foremost film-TV scribes, Alejandro Hernández, co-writer of Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and Mariano Barroso’s “What the Future Holds,” and Michel Gaztambide, a writer on Julio Medem’s milestone 1992 debut “Cows,” Enrique Urbizu’s best picture Goya winner “No Rest for the Wicked” and Freddy Highmore heist thriller  “The Vault,” the second highest-grossing Spanish movie of 2021.

Emiliano De Pablos Munich-based Beta Film has closed a raft of major deals over Europe and beyond on Spanish TV dramas “You Shall Not Lie” and “La Fortuna,” two of the most successful recent originals produced by Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-TV/SVOD operator.Both series have been sold to Italy’s RAI and to HBO for its platform HBO Max for Eastern Europe, Benelux, the Nordics, Netherlands, and Portugal, among other territories.A six-part thriller by Pau Freixas, co-creator of “The Red Band Society,” “You Shall Not Lie” was sold to RTL Deutschland for Germany, where it will premiere on its streaming platform RTL Plus this spring.In France, the drama has been picked up by M6 with an exclusive window for its SVOD service Salto. Furthermore, Antenna TV secured rights for Greece and Cyprus, as well as Blue TV for Turkey.

when the Oscar nominations were announced this year. Spanish cinema, long lagging behind other European rivals like Italy and France, has finally begun to catch up. Carla Simón’s win in Berlin for ‘Alcarràs’ is proof of that. According to Variety, Cruz is currently in the mix to be the president of the Cannes festival jury, a distinction already granted in 2017 to Pedro Almodóvar, by far the most appreciated Iberian director abroad.

Pablo Sandoval Few movies are as awaited at this year’s Málaga Festival as Daniel Guzman’s “Canallas” (“Monkey Business”) which world premieres in competition this March 19. It marks the follow-up by Guzmán, an acclaimed actor-turned writer-director, to his notable debut “Nothing in Return” which scored best picture, director and a Critics’ Prize at 2015’s Malaga Festival, going on to scoop Spanish Academy Goyas for new director and breakout actor, the latter for Miguel Herrán. “Canallas” also reps the second original movie production from Movistar Plus, as Spain’s industry looks to the pay TV/SVOD arm of telco giant Telefonica to co-produce some of the biggest movie plays in the country.  Though the subject, setting and tone of “Canallas” could hardly be different from Movistar Plus’ debut movie outing, Alejandro Amenabar’s “While at War,” “Canallas” gives further clues to what kind of movies Movistar Plus is willing to sink money in. It’s clearly the work of an auteur, Guzmán typically meshing reality and fiction, casting a childhood friend, Joaquín González, as himself, a high flying entrepreneur – or so high imagines himself –  still living with his mum in a high rise in a modest outer-periphery big city ‘burb. When González and his family – played by his real non-pro family – face eviction, he turns to childhood friends Brujo and Luismi for help. Things were already going wrong.

Stanley Tucci play adversaries who share a tragic past in “La Fortuna,” a six-episode series premiering Thursday (Jan. 20) on AMC+.The international production, co-written and directed by Oscar winner Alejandro Amenabar (“The Sea Inside”), follows rookie Spanish diplomat Alex Ventura (Alvaro Mel) and his fiery civil-servant ally, Lucia Vallarts (Ana Polvorosa), as they lock horns with maverick underwater explorer Frank Wild (Tucci).

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentStarring “The Lovely Bones’” Stanley Tucci and “Da 5 Bloods’” Clarke Peters and produced by Movistar Plus in association with AMC Studios, “La Fortuna” is set to roll out in half the major distribution territories in the world.First up is Germany, where Sky will air the TV debut of “The Others” director Alejandro Amenábar from Dec. 24.A U.S.