In a deal sealed at Cannes, Spain’s Film Factory has closed France with Wild Bunch on action film “The Gentleman” as well as crime thriller “Undercover.”
The directorial debut of seasoned Mexican cinematographer Luis Gabriel Beristáin (“Blade II,” “The Beekeeper”), “The Gentleman” stars Ron Perlman as Theo, an aging former U.S. soldier who pays Olga, a prostitute, to talk with him about who he once was and what he might have been. When Olga is brutally murdered, Theo embarks on bloody revenge.
“The Gentleman” is produced by Spain’s Esto También Pasará (“Ferocious Wolf”). Now shooting, “The Gentleman” will be released by Universal in Spain next year.
From Goya winner Arantxa Echevarría (“Lola and Carmen”), “Undercover” is inspired by the real-life story of Spain’s only police officer to successfully infiltrate ETA. Carolina Yuste (“Saben aquell”) and Luis Tosar (“Maiaxabel”) headline; Bowfinger Intl. Pictures and Beta Fiction Spain produce, with the latter set to release “Undercover” in Spanish theaters Oct. 11.
“We are extremely pleased at closing this deal with a prestigious company like Wild Bunch. Knowing that these great titles will have a wide distribution release in a key territory like France is very gratifying,” said Film Factory head Vicente Canales.
“The whole WB team is very happy to have acquired the rights of these two promising titles and will take care of them to guarantee their best exposure to the French public” added Wild Bunch’s Gregory Strouk.
Film Factory Entertainment’s Cannes slate also takes in Alberto Rodriguez’s heist thriller “Los Tigres,” one of the biggest Spanish packages at this year’s Cannes, a Movistar Plus+ event auteur movie from the “Marshland” Goya best picture winner; and “Barren Land,” from “Money Heist” and “Berlin” helmer Albert Pintó, a suspense thriller capturing drug trade devastation of friendships and lives in Andalusía’s Cadiz.
Upscale commercial Spanish titles can command a large market, Canales recently argued. The Wild Bunch deal in a bellwether market for non-English language movies would seem to bear him out.
