Spanish Remakes Scoring Big Globally
variety.comEd Meza @edmezavarSpanish distributors, who have enjoyed a strong track record selling remake rights to local pics, have received a major boost this year with the Malaga Festival Industry Zone’s (MAFIZ) inaugural Remake Day event on Thursday.Leading film sales companies, among them Cinema Republic, Latido Films, Filmax and Feel Content, presented showcases of films considered particularly adaptable to foreign markets.
Not surprisingly, comedies and genre pics made up most of the selections.David Castellanos’ Cinema Republic offered one strong example with Borja Cobeaga’s hit 2009 romantic comedy “Pagafantas,” which has over the years sold to Germany, Italy and Mexico.Cinema Republic also touted Icíar Bollaín’s “Rosa’s Wedding” (“La Boda de Rosa”), about a woman in her mid-40s who decides to finally take charge of her life and fulfill her dream of starting a business.
In Robert Bellsolà’s 2014 laffer “Dos a la Carta” (“Menu for Two”), another Cinema Republic title, a big city stockbroker and a dim-witted small-town slacker discover they are brothers and end up sharing their deceased father’s estate, a failing country restaurant in the middle of nowhere.Iván Díaz, head of international at Filmax, said the company has had recent success with Jaume Balagueró’s 2011 horror pic “Sleep Tight,” which was remade in South Korea by Kwon Lee as “Door Lock,” becoming a major hit in the country when it was released in 2018.
In 2021, Orkenbek Baysenbay directed a Chinese version, “Men suo,” known internationally as “The Door Lock.”Filmax initially focused on remake rights to genre films but has since significantly diversified its slate, Díaz said.
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