Genre Pics, Comedies Lead Bullish Summer Sales for Latido (EXCLUSIVE)

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.

More from Variety

• Anna Buryachkova to Follow Venice Premiere 'Forever-Forever' With Documentary 'Will We Feel Again,' 'The Hunters and the Hunted' (EXCLUSIVE)

• Venice Offers New Senses and Directions in XR: 'All Projects Involve the Human Body, We're Not Just Sitting'

• Venice Horizons Film 'The Red Suitcase' Unpacks Rare Nepal-Sri Lanka Partnership, Unveils Clip (EXCLUSIVE)

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. It is a 365 days 24/7 work for the sales companies. Online selling has come to stay, but on-site impact is still the key,” he argued.

“Decisions to acquire take longer, more people have an opinion, and more factors are taken into consideration by the buyers before they close a deal.”

“Some territories are more active – we see a constant shift – and obviously the U.S. was receding, but we have to see what the outcome will be during and after the strikes,” Saura added.

“Distributors and televisions (including streamers) are more and more consumer-oriented, and they tend to follow what audiences are demanding: They’re take less risks than before,” Saura said.

Genre Films Lead the Way

“Genre comes first,” Saura stressed.

In that sense, the newest film by Calparsoro, Spain’s king of action thrillers, has almost sold worldwide, being recently acquired by AV Jet for Taiwan, Leda Films for Latin America, Blitz for former Yugoslavia territories and Shoval Films in Israel. Toplining “Miami Vice’s” Luis Tosar, “All the Names of God” is co-represented by XYZ in the U.S. and Canada.

Also, Germany-based Plaion Pictures, one of Europe’s leading indie film and home entertainment distributors, nabbed German speaking, Switzerland and Italy’s rights to Belén Macías’ serial killer film “Summer in Red,” with Marta Nieto (“Mother”) and José Coronado (“Close Your Eyes”), ahead of its release in Spain (Sept. 8).

One of Latido’s biggest hits, Spanish star auteur Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s rural thriller “The Beasts,” a Cesar and Goya awards winner and Cannes Premiere player, keeps closing what territories remained following its standout U.S. release in July, handled by Greenwich Entertainment.

New deals on “Beasts” feature Prokino for German speaking territories, Benchmark-Films (Taiwan), Edge Entertainment (Scandinavia) and Spafax (airlines).

Intelligent Comedies

“Intelligent comedies also work for the market,” Saura commented.

A production by Luis Manso at Películas Pendleton and Álvaro Longoria at Morena Films, “Championext’s” adaptation rights have been sold to 200Notout in India, while the sequel’s worldwide airline rights have been acquired by E-Muse Ent..

Also, Israel-based Team Productions has taken redo rights to “Champions,” which sparked a Woody Harrelson U.S. remake last year, and continues as Spain’s biggest hometurf box office hit since 2016.

Beyond the deals on “Championext” – still to see its market premiere already pre-sold robustly prior to its enormous box office success in Spain – Saura underscored the “fantastic reception” of Tornasol Media’s  comedy “Under Therapy.”

Winner as a producer of an Oscar for “The Secret in Their Eyes,” and a Cannes Palme d’Or for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” Tornasol founder Gerardo Herrero directs a story of three married couples undergoing therapy who are summoned by their female psychologist to a collective healing session. It doesn’t quite go as hoped.

Latido has sold “Under Therapy” to Aurora Films in Poland, Cinobo in Greece, Outsider Pictures in the U.S., Youngjin Creative in South Korea and Japan, Palace in Australia, Fidalgo in Norway and Shoval Films for Israel.

Hope for Quality Drama

“Although the real appetite is for genre films and romantic comedy, there is still some hope for quality drama,” Saura sustained.

The Latido CEO highlighted “interesting sales for more art house jewels” like Elena Trapé’s “The Enchanted,” whose Eastern Europe Pay TV & SVOD rights have been taken by HBO Europe, and Carla Subirana’s “Sica,” sold to Outsider Pictures in the U.S..

“That take longer to be appreciated but find slowly are gaining a place in the market, as also been shown by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s acclaimed 2022 debut ‘Lullaby,’ which has continued to sell slowly but surely,” with recent deals with Outsider Pictures in U.S. and Pannonia Entertainment in Hungary.

Catalogue film sales haven’t given up the ghost either. “All new and old forms of television need to keep feeding their own libraries,” Saura said.

Top catalogue recent deals take in Siyah in Turkey, who bought from Latido a package of seven films headed by the Óscar Martínez-starrer 2016 black comedy  “The Distinguished Citizen.”

Further sales encompass Ana Murugarren comedy “García & García’s” TV and digital rights to Legend in China, Xavier Villaverde’s erotic film “The Sex of the Angels” with VOD rights taken by Nettai Museum in Japan, Álex de la Iglesia’s “The Oxford Murders” licensing to Koch Media-Plaion for German-speaking territories, Arantxa Etxebarría’s “Carmen & Lola” sold to Netflix in Spain. U.S. video rights to Fernando Fernán Gómez 1964 classic “The Strange Voyage” were acquired by Severin Films; TV5 Monde took worldwide pay TV & SVOD to Swiss social drama “La Mif,” a Berlin winner.

Best of Variety

• Oscars Predictions: Best Actor - There Will Be Blood in the Lead Actor Race

• Everything We Know About 'I Am Legend 2,' Starring Will Smith and Michael B. Jordan

• Oscars Predictions: Best Actress - Festivals Declare Emma Stone and Jodie Comer Awards Contenders

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.