Cannes: Zeta Cinema Unveils ‘Leyes,’ ‘Gordo,’ ‘Domingo’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Spain’s Zeta Cinema is readying three new movies after a year in which Universal, Paramount and Warner Bros. all scored their biggest hits with Spanish titles, not Hollywood fare in the Spanish marketplace.
Antonio Asensio’s Zeta Cinema is Sony and Warner Bros.’ strongest producing partner in Spain. Their 2016-17 slate, under producer Francisco Ramos, includes “Las Leyes de Termodinamica,” a romantic comedy in which a jilted boyfriend attributes his disastrous love life to the laws of thermodynamics.
The film is considered a strong studio prospect for Spanish distribution. It stars Miki Esparbe (“Off Course”), Berta Vazquez (“Palm Trees in the Snow”) and Hugo Silva (“The Department of Time”) and is helmed by Mateo Gil, a former co-writer of director Alejandro Amenabar.
Also in the lineup is Carlos Radial’s “Algo muy gordo,” also on Zeta’s slate, which stars Berto Romero, one of Spain’s top TV comedians, as a disillusioned TV screenwriter forced to go back to school. Antonio del Torre, Carlos Areces and Carolina Bang co-star.
And “La enfermedad del domingo,” from Ramon Salazar (“20 Centimeters”), tells the tale of a woman who reconnects with her mother who walked out on her 30 years earlier when she was a child.
“This is a good moment for well rounded, solidly packed and original projects,” producer Ramos said.
Zeta’s slate announcement comes as Disney prepares for the July 29 premiere of “Zip and Zap and the Captain’s Island,” an adaptation of a 1950’s Spanish comic strip produced by Zeta and Mod Productions. Here at Cannes, Film Factory is selling “Smokes and Mirrors,” which Zeta co-produced and which will bow through Warner Bros. on Sept. 23.
Meanwhile, “Don’t Blame the Karma For Being a Jerk,” which Sony Pictures Spain distributes and co-produces, went into production in April. It reteams star Claro Lago, director Maria Ripoll, Zeta and Sony after their joint 2015 comedy, “Now or Never,” grossed $9.5 million in Spain last year, making it Sony’s second-biggest hit in 2015 after “Hotel Transylvania 2.”
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