Pedro Almodovar Opens LAFF with ‘I’m So Excited’
Pedro Almodovar kept it light and bright June 13 as his frothy comedy “I’m So Excited” launched the 19th edition of the Los Angeles Film Festival.
“This is the best excuse for me to come to Los Angeles,” said the director, clad in a chartreuse suit, before the pic unspooled at the Regal at L.A. Live. “The film takes a catastrophe and turns it into a party.”
Intros included his producer-brother Agustin Almodovar (“He’s the smart one”) and stars Blanca Suarez (“She is dying to work here. She’s improving her English”), Miguel Angel Silvestre (“He’s like Michelangelo”) and Javier Camara (“He can be the actor of your dreams”).
“Are you ready for the American market?” the helmer asked Suarez, who replied, “Yes, I am.”
At the post-screening bash, Camara allowed he was still a bit stunned that much of the filming took place at the bankrupt Ciudad Real Central Airport last summer. The private facility, which cost over a billion Euros, closed in late 2011 after just two years of operation.
“I’m glad the airport got some use in the film,” he admitted. “It’s kind of a symbol of our problems in Spain.”
It was the second year in a row that a Sony Pictures Classics pic has opened LAFF with a comedy, following last year’s launch with Woody Allen’s “To Rome with Love.” SPC will open “I’m So Excited” on June 28 in the U.S., a dating decision that SPC’s Michael Barker said was easy to make with summer only a week away.
“We’ve usually opened Pedro’s films in the fall, but this one is too much fun to wait,” he noted.
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