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Akshaye Khanna Talks About Lost Role ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Aamir Khan is once again back in the news with the trailer of his next venture, Sitaare Zameen Par. The film is said to be a spiritual sequel of his blockbuster movie, Taare Zameen Par which was directed by Khan himself.

Taare Zameen Par was a monumental success, and Aamir’s character of an art teacher (Nikumbh) was widely appreciated. However, do you know that the role was never intended for him in the first place?

Amol Gupte, who was the original writer of the movie, wanted to make it with Akshaye Khanna. He had seen Akshaye’s work in Dil Chahta Hai and requested Aamir to arrange a meeting with Khanna so that he could narrate the script to him. However, since the movie was about the issue on children, the ace actor wanted to hear the script himself before passing the message to Akshaye.

Disney+ has released an international trailer for its upcoming original Spanish comedy series “Shared Custody,” directed by “Champions” creator Javier Fesser, which will debut globally on the platform on Jan. 24.

An accomplished filmmaker, Fesser, who makes his TV debut with “Shared Custody,” is best known for creating the Goya-winning and Oscar-submitted heartwarming comedy “Campeones” (“Champions”), adapted in 2023 as the Woody Harelson starrer “Champions.” In 2007, his short film “Binta y la gran idea” was nominated for the live-action short film Oscar. “Shared Custody” marks his series debut.

Over eight episodes, the series will examine the challenges faced by two parents, Cris and Diego, after their separation. The show delves into the complexities of modern co-parenting as the couple strives to maintain a mature, amicable relationship for the sake of their young daughter.

However, financial difficulties force them to move back in with their respective parents, setting the stage for awkward and often humorous family dynamics.

Una comedia dramática original de Disney Plus+ protagonizada por Lorena López y Ricard Farré. © Disney Plus+

Hoy, Disney Plus+ ha anunciado la fecha de estreno y ha publicado el primer tráiler de Custodia repartida, la primera serie dirigida por el director de cine español Javier Fesser (Campeones).

Custodia repartida sigue a Cris (López) y Diego (Farré), que acaban de separarse de mutuo acuerdo. Su intención es comportarse como adultos maduros y responsables y ser amigos por el bien de su hija de cinco años. Pero ninguno de los dos se puede permitir vivir solo y cuidar de ella. El trabajo de Cris es muy absorbente y Diego no tiene un salario fijo, así que ambos se ven obligados a una solución drástica: mudarse de nuevo a la casa de sus respectivos padres. Los abuelos están encantados de que sus hijos y, sobre todo, su nieta, estén de vuelta en sus vidas.

Coolie Shoot In Jaipur (Photo Credit – YouTube)

Superstar Rajinikanth is all prepped for the shoot of Coolie in Jaipur, as the superstar recently reached his destination. The actor had a fantastic year with his film Vettiyan doing good business at the box office and his film’s songs going viral on the internet.

According to our sources, the actor is set to shoot in the city for 10 days, during which Aamir Khan is also expected to share the screen with him in a cameo appearance. Over the past months, several reports have been going around that Aamir Khan might share the big screen with superstar Rajinikanth again after 29 years. As of now, this news is accurate and not a rumor.

Furthermore, speculations about Aamir Khan and director Lokesh Kanagaraj have also been going around for a while. We exclusively reported that the duo had discussed a project earlier. Now, it...

Exclusive: Disney+ has placed a big bet on daily drama with the launch of Return to Las Sabinas.

The first five instalments dropped today in Spain, as well as on Disney+ around the world and Hulu in the U.S. The remaining 65 parts will be stripped throughout the week with new eps released weekday mornings. Soapy daily dramas and telenovelas move the dial across swathes of the TV world, but Return to Las Sabinas, from Diagonal and commissioned by Disney+ in Spain, is the first series of its kind in the daily drama space created for a major subs-based streamer.

Yesterday, on the eve of the launch, Disney+ programming boss Sofía Fábregas, creator and showrunner Eulàlia Carillo, and director Jordi Frades, clued Deadline in on the buzzy project.

“We said: ‘Nobody is streaming a daily show,’” says Fábregas, VP, Original Production for Disney+ in Spain when asked about the inception...

Exclusive: Goodfellas is expanding its footprint into Spain in a new production venture with prolific local producer Enrique López Lavigne aimed at producing ambitious projects with Spanish talent with international appeal.

Bannered Goodapatxe – in a nod to Lavigne’s Apache Films company, which he runs alongside El Studio – the venture aims to get two to three productions off the ground a year.

Details of the first projects are under wraps, but the partners have revealed they are in development on a Spanish historic film noir, a western and science fiction picture and four additional genre feature films directed by young Spanish authors.

Lavigne has been a driving force in the Spanish independent cinema scene for more than 30 years.

He started out as a film buyer for Canal Plus, before moving into distribution at Sogecine. He branched into producing in the late 1990s, taking credits on a host of early films...

Exclusive: When former Univision exec Camila Jiménez-Villa and El Chapo creator Silvana Aguirre teamed up to launch their production company in 2019, they wanted its name, The Immigrant, to reflect the stories they would go on to make.

In the five years since then, ideas linked to immigration such as identity and otherness have underpinned their TV and film output, transporting viewers into the lives of people with different worldviews.

Backed by Fremantle, Jiménez-Villa and Aguirre are on a hot streak right now, with series in post-production for Disney+ and Prime Video. They have become a key supplier to streamer Vix, and pushed across the Atlantic from their bases in LA, Miami, Mexico and South America into Spanish-speaking Europe. Success has come without forfeiting creativity for commercialism.

“It’s been pretty great so far,” says Jiménez-Villa, The Immigrant’s CEO, of the company’s path. “In 2023, we were shooting three shows...

Seasoned international sales agent Oscar Alonso, one of Spain’s best-known – and well-regarded – executives in overseas markets, has joined Madrid-based Lazona as head of distribution at its domestic distribution arm Lazona Pictures.

A prominent player on Spain’s film scene, as a producer Lazona was behind “Spanish Affair,” the highest-grossing national movie in Spanish history grossing €55.2 million ($59.7 million) at cinema theaters in 2014.

Lazona also produced Enrique Urbizu’s “No Rest for the Wicked,” which swept six Spanish Academy awards in 2012, including best picture, as well as auteurist hits such as Manuel Martin Cuenca’s 2017 Toronto winner “El autor” and banner Spanish TV series, led by Movistar Plus+ “Gigantes” (2017-18), also from Urbizu.

A former senior executive at Madrid-based Latido Films, one of the Spanish-speaking world’s top film sales agents, Alonso joined Latido in 2005, serving as its festivals manager – and a sales executive during colleagues’ during colleagues’ absences – before being...

Una comedia dramática sobre la vida post separación. © Disney Plus+

El director Javier Fesser (“Campeones”), se embarca en su primera serie de ficción en una comedia dramática original de Disney+ sobre lo que supone hoy en día separarse teniendo hijos.

En “Custodia Repartida”, Cris y Diego acaban de separarse de mutuo acuerdo. Su intención es ser unos adultos maduros, responsables y amigables por el bien de su hija de 5 años. Pero ninguno de los dos se puede permitir vivir solo y cuidar de ella. El trabajo de Cris lo consume todo y Diego no tiene un sueldo fijo, por lo que ambos se ven obligados a una solución drástica: mudarse de nuevo a casa de sus respectivos padres. Los abuelos están encantados de que sus hijos y, sobre todo, su nieta, vuelvan a formar parte de sus vidas. Pero las cosas se deterioran rápidamente. Lo que empezó como una separación...

Exclusive: Prime Video is going big in Mexico with a TV series about five nerds who run a high school business selling homework in the 1990s. Watch the trailer above.

No One Will Miss Us comes from Fremantle-owned The Immigrant, which is having a good week after Disney+ boarded its comedy-drama Shared Custody from Champions maker Javier Fesser.

No One Will Miss Us is set in pre-economic crisis 1990s Mexico and follows five losers who run an illegal business at their high school. They sell homework and assignments to their classmates and their business brings them money and popularity, but hormones and an unexpected death threaten to ruin everything.

The eight-part series is being directed by Catalina Aguilar Mastretta (Cindy La Regia) and Ariel Award winning director Samuel Kishi Leopo (Los Lobos). The screenplay is by Adriana Pelusi (Control Z) and Gibrán Portela (Güeros).

The series joins an Amazon Mexico...

Exclusive: Disney+ has boarded Shared Custody, the comedy-drama series that marks Champions maker Javier Fesser’s first directing gig in TV.

We can reveal that the streamer will launch Shared Custody in January 2025, with filmmaker Fesser directing the eight-episode series, which was announced over two years ago and explores what happens when parents separate. Fremantle-backed producer The Immigrant is making the show, which is written and created by Juanjo Moscardó Rius, who created the Goya-nominated A Shitty Therapy, and María Mínguez (Vivir dos Veces).

In Shared Custody, parents Cris and Diego have just separated by mutual agreement. Their intention is to be mature, responsible and friendly adults for the sake of their five-year-old daughter, but neither of them can afford to live alone and take care of her. Cris’ work is very absorbing and Diego does not have a fixed salary,...

Sales and production company Other Angle is hoping to drum up remake interest for upcoming French comedy A Little Something Extra with a screening at the fourth edition of its French Comedy Club in L.A. this weekend.

Actor and comedian Artus directs and co-stars with Clovis Cornillac as father and son bank robbing team, who infiltrate a bus taking a group of disabled youngsters to a holiday camp, in a bid to escape the police. The cast is made up mainly of youngsters with different types of disability.

Other Angle co-founder Olivier Albou suggests the comedic storyline, the disabled cast and sensitive storytelling makes for a rare combination.

“Even if the pitch is not the same, the film has similarity with the Spanish movie Campeones (Champions) which sold really well as an original film and as a remake as well,” he says, referring to Javier Fesser’s drama about...

Madrid-based sales outlet Latido Films has unveiled sales on key titles from its European Film Market and Malaga Film Festival (March 1-10) slates.

Beginning with films in pre-production, Jim Sheridan and David Merriman’s true crime courtroom docu-drama Re-creation starring Vicky Krieps has secured pre-sales for Greece (Spentzos) and Portugal (Outsider). The film sees a fictional jury assess the real-life unsolved murder of French TV producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead at her Ireland holiday home in 1996.

Spy thriller Raqqa from Oscar-winning producer-director Gerardo Herrero has pre-sold to the Middle East (Empire). Herrero’s previous feature, Under Therapy,...

Homegrown hits led by A Moroccan Affair and Championext, an explosion of comedies and the solid performance of several European indies have helped the Spanish box office to withstand the lack of US releases following the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year.

Local productions were the highest grossing independent films at the Spanish box office in the year ending February 2024, with Álvaro Fernández Armero’s A Moroccan Affair at the top of the list.

The 2023 Spanish box office total was €504 million, with 77.8 million tickets sold, representing a 26% increase on 2022.

The two biggest Spanish films are both part of existing franchises.

The international endurance of Spanish film adaptations was front and center this year at the Malaga Festival Industry Zone’s (Mafiz) Remake Day event on Thursday, with a presentation of Shanghai-based Aim Media’s “Lose to Win,” the Chinese adaptation of the Latido Films-sold 2018 hit “Campeones” (“Champions”), directed by Javier Fesser.

“Champions” is produced by Luis Manso at Fesser’s Madrid-based Películas Pendleton (“Historias Lamentables”) alongside Alvaro Longoria at Spain’s Morena Films (“Everybody Knows”).

Global remakes of “Champions,” about a basketball coach who coaches a team of people with disabilities as community service, have so far included Arabic, German, U.S. (starring Woody Harrelson and directed by Bobby Farrelly) and Indian versions, not to mention a hugely successful Spanish sequel.

Discussing “Lose to Win,” directed by Gao Hu, ahead of a special screening of the film, Aim Media’s Emily Ruan detailed the benefits and challenges presented by the production.

The board of Mediapro has voted to have co-founder Jaume Roures step down as Managing Partner of the Spanish content giant, with Taxto Benet remaining in post as President and CEO.

According to a statement released a few moments ago, the company’s directors approved a request from majority shareholders for the “disassociation” of Roures, who is one of Spanish media’s biggest and most influential characters.

Besides helping establish Mediapro as a major Spanish drama producer and distributor behind the likes of Movistar+ series The Head, Roures has been a key figure in the growth of Spain’s La Liga soccer league. He and Benet have pushed the division to grow its revenues from €150M ($158.5M) in the 2009-2010 season to over €700M in 2021-2022.

“The void that Jaume leaves in the group is immense, and from a personal standpoint, I will deeply miss these wonderful decades of working together,...

Indie films have scored some impressive figures at Spanish box office this year.

As the Spanish film industry comes together at Valladolid International Film Week (known locally as the Seminici), one of the big talking points will be how to make independent films stand out at the local box office.

Although Spain’s box office in the year to mid-October has grossed €400m, 35% higher than the same period in 2022, it is still 17% lower than the 2015-2019 pre-Covid average.

US studio blockbusters led the charge, headed by Barbie ($35.2m), Super Mario Bros. Movie ($29m), Avatar: The Way Of Water, ($26.9m) Oppenheimer...

Latido Films is venturing yet more into the inspiring world of e-sports and viral fame with Goya Award winning producer-helmer Alvaro Longoria’s new doc-feature, “La vida de Brianeitor.” The film serves as a spin-off from Javier Fesser’s Spanish box office smash hit, “Championext,” which Latido is also selling.

The doc follows Brian Albacete, better known as Brianeitor2022. With millions of social media followers, an acting role in a top-charting Spanish film “Championext” and a spot on Team Heretics—one of Spain’s leading e-sport entities—Brian is redefining what it means to be a star. And he’s doing it all despite living with muscular dystrophy and spina bifida.

“Javier Fesser…told me Brian was an amazing subject for a doc. I wasn’t really sure until I met him in person,” recalled Alvaro Longoria, the film’s director, and the producer at Morena Films behind “Championext.” Brian...

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.

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.

Move over “Barbenheimer”: Spain has a new box office phenom: Javier Fesser’s “Championext” (“Campeonex”), his sequel to “Champions,” Spain’s biggest hometurf box office hit of the last seven years which sparked a Woody Harrelson U.S. remake directed by Bobby Farrelly.

Produced by Luis Mansó for Películas Pendleton and Alvaro Longoria for Morena Films, “Championext” is released in Spain by Universal Pictures Intl (Upi), and sold internationally by Latido Films.

It opened Aug. 18 for a first weekend €1.72 million ($1.89 million) which bested both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” as well as “Meg 2: The Trench,” Spain’s No. 1 for the last two weeks.

“Championext’s” first weekend frame is the biggest among Spanish films since Santiago Segura’s “Father There is Only One 3” in July 2022.

Scoring a muscular €823,399 on Wednesday, spectators’ day in Spain when ticket prices drop at cinema theaters, “Championext” grossed a robust €3.94 million ($4.31 million) through and including Friday,...

Bobby Farrelly’s ‘Champions’ will close the Czech event.

US actress and filmmaker Robin Wright will be the latest recipient of the President’s Award at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Wright will receive the award at the closing ceremony for the 57th edition, on Saturday, July 8. The festival has also added Rob Reiner’s 1987 adventure comedy The Princess Bride starring Wright to its programme.

Wright joins Ewan McGregor and Alicia Vikander in receiving the President’s Award at this year’s event; previous recipients include Benicio Del Toro, Ethan Hawke and Jude Law.

The festival will also pay homage to US producer Christine Vachon.

Anonymous Content has partnered with Spain’s Morena Films, one of the country’s top production companies, to launch a joint venture aimed at developing and producing Spanish-language content for the global market.

The alliance marks the fifth international joint venture for Anonymous Content as they continue to build partnerships with local producers and companies in key territories around the world.

Anonymous Content’s president of international, David Davoli, and Morena Films CEO Pilar Benito will oversee the joint venture, whose managing director will be named in the coming weeks, the companies announced Friday in a statement.

The partnership aims “to leverage Morena’s long-standing reputation” as one of the key production companies in Spain “to continue developing and producing premium film and TV projects,” the statement added.

Launched in 1999 to produce innovative, high-quality content for the international market, Morena is behind more than 100 titles, taking in feature films, TV series and documentaries,...

“20,000 Species of Bees,” (Estibaliz Urresola)

One of the big winners at Berlin, taking Leading Performance, and now racking up healthy sales, the story of a family off for a village summer holiday which builds to a moving ode to women’s freedoms. Sales: Luxbox

“21 Paraíso,” (Nestor Ruiz Medina)

Living in an idyllic Andalusia, a couple in love grapples with the realities of making a living through OnlyFans. Screened at Seville and Tallinn. Sales: Begin Again Films.

“All the Names of God,” (Daniel Calparsoro)

One of the big Spanish action-thrillers hitting this Cannes market, from a specialist (“Sky High”). Pre-sold to France (Kinovista), Germany and Italy (Koch Media) with Tripictures releasing in Spain. Sales: Latido

“Un amor,” (Isabel Coixet)

The multi-prized Coixet (“The Secret Life of Words”).

directs Goya winner Laia Costa (“Lullaby”) in a village-set study of an isolated woman’s succumbing to devouring passion. Sales: Film Constellation.

“Ashes in the Sky,...

Few European arthouse-crossover film sales agents have better weathered the ebb and flow of international market dynamics than Madrid’s Latido Films, which turns 20 in 2023.

Proof of that came at April’s Platino Awards, where Latido scored six statuettes, split between an acting double for Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s “Lullaby” and four for Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beasts,” which has already swept Spain’s Goya Awards and scored a French Cesar for foreign film.

Scoring €6.8 million ($7.5 million) in Spain, and 327,000 admissions in France, “The Beasts” also rates as one of the top-performing recent Spanish-language movies.

If Latido has survived for so long, insists director general Antonio Saura, it’s because of a core strategy of “working with talent, our search for talent.” Beyond that, other keys have been “collaboration with production companies that understand long-term relationships, and well-established relationships with clients.”

Companies with which Latido has held or holds...

Out in UK cinemas today is Champions, the Bobby Farelly-directed feel-good movie starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook. The underdog story is a remake of Javier Fesser’s 2018 film Campeones, and we were invited to talk to the cast and crew about the new film. Sarah Cook asks the questions.

Firstly we sit down with the wonderful Ernie Hudson who told us about goofing around with Woody Harrelson on set & the story of the coach who inspired him.

Then we caught up with Champions producer Paul Brooks who talked about discovering the original film, finding the perfect cast & why we love an underdog story

Plot:

A heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team...

Photo: Focus Features In Champions, a remake of the 2018 Spanish film Campeones, Woody Harrelson plays a basketball coach who, by force of circumstance, must take the helm for a team of intellectually challenged Special Olympians. Of course, Harrelson launched his career playing the charmingly not-so-bright Woody on Cheers. And the...

Champions Review — Champions (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Bobby Farrelly, written by Mark Rizzo, Javier Fesser and David Marques and starring Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Matt Cook, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: Champions (2023): Woody Harrelson is Fun to Watch in Bobby Farrelly’s Winning Basketball Comedy...

There’s scarcely a word or move in Champions that you haven’t seen somewhere else before, but in a very modest way this goofball minor-league basketball yarn throws off enough amiable and vaguely raucous charm to keep a smile on sports fans’ faces much of time. Woody Harrelson makes the exasperated most of his role as a been-around-the-block minor-league coach whose likely final hope at employment is to whip a bunch of physically challenged misfits into presentable shape. It’s very easy to imagine gobs of middle-aged guys sitting around the tube at home or in a bar chugging a few while having a good time with this one.

Mark Rizzo’s script is based on the 2018 Spanish comedy Campeones, directed by Javier Fesser and inspired by a real team. The new film is set securely in the American Midwest, though many of its biggest fans might end up...

Barcelona-based sales shingle Filmax has acquired international rights to Spanish thriller “Ellipsis,” directed and co-written by Goya-nominated David Marqués.

“Ellipsis” toplines a slew of Spanish-language world stars, including Diego Peretti, José Coronado (“No Rest for the Wicked”), and iconic Mexican thesp Cecilia Suárez (“The House of Flowers”) and rising star Georgina Amorós (“Elite”).

Peretti plays protagonist Leo, a well-known author of mystery novels. He is paid a visit by a man claiming to be a journalist in a secret location where Leo is penning his next novel. But only his agent knows where he is. Could it be that a dark secret from Adriana ( Amorós), his lover, is behind the surprise visit?

The script was co-written by Rafael Calatayud Cano (“Tales of the Lockdown”) and Marqués, who is best-known for writing Spanish comedy-drama “Champions,” a box office and format smash hit directed by Javier Fesser.

Marqués said: “‘Ellipsis’ is an...

“Championext”(“Campeonex”), the anticipated follow-up to Javier Fesser’s Spanish comedy triumph “Champions” (“Campeones”) which scooped Forqué, Goya, and Feroz awards for best picture and delighted audiences to the tune of a stellar €18.5 million (21.4 million) box office grab, has been acquired for international sales by Latido Films (“The Beasts”).

Written by Fesser (“Camino”) and Athenea Mata (“El Secreto de Lilith”) in collaboration with David Marqués, the film follows nearly the same cast of beloved characters two years after they’ve left the fierce competition behind. A Los Amigos reunion will see “the landscape move from the world of basketball to the world of athletics for people with disabilities while making room to explore the fascinating world of metaverses and virtual reality,” Fesser revealed in a statement.

Delving further into the world of its protagonists, the film allows for a broader reveal while cementing the feel-good sentiment and relatability that brought the original high-acclaim.

Focus Features has released a trailer for the new Woody Harrelson led sports comedy film, Champions. The new movie follows Marcus Marakovich (Harrelson), a former minor league basketball coach who gets himself into trouble. Marcus is ordered by the court to coach a team of players with intellectual disabilities as community service. Although reluctant and initially doubtful about this team, he soon learns that they could become champions in their own right.

Champions reunites Bobby Farelly, who serves as director, Peter Farrelly, and Harrelson for the first time since the 1996 Kingpin, another sports comedy. The Farelly brothers are longtime producing partners, creating acclaimed comedies including Me, Myself, And Irene, Dumb & Dumber, and There's Something About Mary. Harrelson not only stars in Champions but serves as an executive producer as well.

Related: Woody Harrelson Wanted to F--king Slap McConaughey on True Detective

Woody Harrelson's History With Sports Movies Long Precedes Champions...

Focus Features is already training for March Madness with the studio’s Champions trailer. Designed to make you laugh, open your eyes, and warm your heart, Champions stars Woody Harrelson as a former minor league basketball coach. After a series of missteps, the court orders Harrelson’s Marcus to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, the team can go further than they ever imagined.

Bobby Farrelly directs Champions from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo. Joining Harrelson for the inspirational sports feature are Ernie Hudson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook, with Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Ianucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens, and more.

Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer, and Jeremy Plager produce, with Woody Harrelson, Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Álvaro Longoria, Javier Fesser, and Luis Manso executive producing.

In the Champions trailer,...

Every movie star needs to play a gruff, fish-out-of-water coach in a heartwarming sports film at least once, and Woody Harrelson is getting that opportunity with “Champions,” a new comedy film from Bobby Farrelly. Focus Features debuted the official trailer for the upcoming film December 5.

In the film, “Cheers” and “True Detective” star Harrelson plays Marcus Aldridge, a temperamental minor-league basketball coach who gets fired from his position after a series of losses and winds up facing legal trouble after crashing into a police car. Ordered by the court to fulfill a community service requirement, he coaches a basketball team consisting of players with intellectual disabilities.

Initially apathetic about the assignment and unconvinced the group has any potential as a team, Marcus ends up motivated to whip the players into shape when he realizes that competing with them in the Special Olympics could be a step towards reclaiming his old job.

Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment Land have announced the release date for Bobby Farrelly’s Champions on March 24, 2023.

Champions, directed by Bobby Farrelly from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo, stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook.

In Champions, Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

Producers on the project are Paul Brooks and Scott Niemeyer via their Gold Circle Entertainment banner, and Jeremy Plager via his 7 Deuce Entertainment banner. The film is executive produced by Woody Harrelson, Gold Circle Entertainment’s Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Morena Films’ Álvaro Longoria, and Películas Pendelton’s Javier Fesser and Luis Manso.

The...

Focus Features will open Champions on March 24, 2023.

In the movie, Woody Harrelson plays a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.

Gold Circle Entertainment is also producing the movie which Bobby Farrelly directed from a screenplay by Mark Rizzo.

Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson, Cheech Marin, and Matt Cook star.

Producers on the project are Paul Brooks and Scott Niemeyer via their Gold Circle Entertainment banner, and Jeremy Plager via his 7 Deuce Entertainment banner. Harrelson, Gold Circle Entertainment’s Brad Kessell, Alexander Jooss, Morena Films’ Álvaro Longoria, and Películas Pendelton’s Javier Fesser and Luis Manso are EPs.

The movie will open on the same day as Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 and United...

Spanish 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,...

Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, maintained the air of enigma around the remake of the 2008 Spanish film ‘Champions’. Speaking to media as a part of his birthday celebration, the actor was asked if he’s remaking Spanish director Javier Fesser, ‘Champions’, the ‘Dangal’ superstar was pleasantly surprised as to how […]...

Lola Arabia, the United Arab Emirates label of Oscar-winning Spanish producer Andrés Vicente Gómez (“Belle Epoque”), has struck a 12-movie co-production deal with Dubai-based Charisma Group.

The alliance will take in a range of titles, from $2 million-budgeted contemporary comedies to banner productions budgeted at $40 million, revolving around contemporary and historic stories of West Asia.

The partners aim to produce an average of four films a year, said Charisma Group co-president Ayham Al Ziyoud.

Development has begun on the whole slate. “Although in principle we plan projects with modest budgets, these will be increased in the following year once we find the rights partners outside the Gulf States,” Gómez said.

The movies are created, developed and produced with the Saudi and broader regional audience in mind. “The language is Arabic and the stories, topics and treatments are rooted in our region. When the story requires it, we will also feature international...

Exclusive: Ernie Hudson is the final addition to the cast of Champions, the recently-wrapped Special Olympics film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

He’ll star alongside the previously announced Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin and Matt Cook. Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens and Champ Pederson.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018. It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.

Mark Rizzo wrote the script. Paul Brooks, Scott Niemeyer and Jeremy Plager produced,...

Focus Features and Gold Circle have partnered on Bobby Farrelly’s next feature “Champions,” both companies announced on Monday. Production of the film recently wrapped.

“Champions” is centered around a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is sentenced to community service and forced to coach a Special Olympics team. The film is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film “Campeones” from 2018, which was released by Universal Pictures International.

The film stars Woody Harrelson, Kaitlin Olson, Cheech Marin and Matt Cook. Also of note, the film is rounded out by a cast of more than 10 actors with intellectual disabilities who authentically tell the story, including Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens, and Champ Pederson.

“Champions” was directed by Farrelly and written by Mark Rizzo. The film’s producers are Paul Brooks,...

Exclusive: Oscar nominee and Emmy winner Woody Harrelson, Emmy nominee Kaitlin Olson, Grammy nominee Cheech Marin and Matt Cook will lead Champions, a recently-wrapped film that Bobby Farrelly directed for Focus Features and Gold Circle Entertainment.

Champions is based on the Goya Award winning Spanish film Campeones, which Universal Pictures International released in 2018. It centers on a stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach who is forced to coach a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service. Actors with intellectual disabilities rounding out the cast to ensure authenticity in the storytelling include Madison Tevlin, Joshua Felder, Kevin Iannucci, Ashton Gunning, Matthew Von Der Ahe, Tom Sinclair, James Day Keith, Alex Hintz, Casey Metcalfe, Bradley Edens and Champ Pederson.

Launched by “El Chapo” producer Camila Jiménez and its creator Silvana Aguirre, L.A.-based The Immigrant, in which Fremantle has a 25% stake, has hired Oscar-nominated filmmaker Javier Fesser to direct its upcoming Spanish series “Custodia Repartida” (“Shared Custody”), a dramatic comedy from María Mínguez (“Vivir dos veces”) and Juanjo Moscardó (“Amor en Polvo”).

The company recently expanded its Mexican team with the appointment of Claudia Valdez as director of physical production. Valdez brings more than two decades of experience from across film and television to The Immigrant and will be critical as the studio enters production on multiple television projects.

One such project, “Shared Custody,” is a dramatic comedy unraveling after the fallout of separation between two parents, and an examination of that increasingly common dynamic in the modern world. Many families cannot afford to live alone, because often those with money have little time and those who do have time frequently struggle financially.

Madrid will provide the backdrop for a new production starring two comic actors at the peak of their powers, Carlos Areces and Fernando Tejero. Late March saw filming get under way in the Spanish capital and surrounding area for El club del paro, a new project for David Marqués following the hugely successful co-screenwriting gig that was 2018’s Champions — directed by Javier Fesser and Spain’s highest-grossing (and most lauded) film of the year, taking almost €20 million at the box office. For his latest project, Marqués has turned his writing skills to devising a plot peopled by characters played by Carlos Areces (recently seen in One Careful Owner), Fernando Tejero (featured in 2020 musical My Heart Goes Boom!), Adrià Collado (who appeared alongside Tejero in the TV series Aquí no hay quien viva), Eric Francés (Rosa’s Wedding), Javier Botet (who could forget his turn in the pitch-black Amigo), María...

Salvador Calvo’s “Adú” leads the way at Spain’s annual Goya Awards nominations with 14 nods, including for best film and best director.

“Las niñas” and “Akelarre” followed with nine nominations each, while “Rosa’s Wedding” has eight.

In the running for the best film Goya are “Adú,” a Netflix acquisition; “Ane” by David Perez Sanudo; “La boda de Rosa” by Iciar Bollain; “Las niñas” by Pilar Palomero; and “Sentimental” by Cesc Gay.

Competing for the best direction Goya will be Salvador Calvo for “Adú”; Juanma Bajo Ulloa for “Baby”; Iciar Bollain for “La boda de Rosa”; and Isabel Coixet for “Nieva en Benidorm.”

In the running for best European film are Jan Komasa’s “Corpus Christi”; Florian Zeller’s “The Father”; Viggo Mortensen’s “Falling”; and Roman Polanski’s “An Officer and a Spy.”

Mortensen was the big draw at the 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival where “Falling” played, and where he received the Donostia Award.

Maybe Movies’ “Zombillenium” and ”Champions,” from Spain’s Morena and Películas Pendelton, feature among 90 series lined up to participate at this year’s Cartoon Forum which is scheduled to take place on site in France’s Toulouse over Sept. 14-17.

France’s Maybe Movies, producers of “Calamity,” this year’s Annecy Cristal best feature winner, along with 2 Minutes will adapt “Zombillenium,” a 2017 feature directed by Arthur de Pins and Alexis Ducord. The series will unspool in a creepy theme park whose employees are all actual monsters.

The “Champions” series is another spin off, this time from Javier Fesser’s same-titled live-action feature “Champions,” a local box office smash hit and Spain’s 2019 Academy Award submission. It turned on a basketball team of adult players with intellectual disabilities. The series will follow a group of kids with various levels of disability as they go to class and face growing up.

Other...

Library deals, remake rights deals, movie production — Spanish film sales agents are diversifying in multiple ways to battle the uncertainty of current times.

The coronavirus pandemic has added another wrinkle to an already complex landscape, with sales agents at the crossroads between traditional distribution and streaming platforms.

In February, as the shock waves of the Covid-19 crisis threatened to reach the Berlinale, Spanish sales companies were rapidly doing business. But deals were already impacted by the impending pandemic.

“Everything was rushed after Berlin,” says Iván Díaz, head of international at Filmax, who at the European Film Market clinched several territory-by-territory sales on David Victori’s psychological thriller “No matarás” (“Cross the Line”), toplining Spanish star Mario Casas.

Mainly acquired for theatrical release, the film’s buyers include Wild Bunch in France, Russian Report for Cis, Cai Chang for Taiwan and Dexin for former Yugoslavia. Further contracts negotiated at the Efm were signed several weeks after.

Produced by Al Maha Al Arabi and Lolafilms, the Saudi Arabian remake of Javier Fesser’s “Campeones” (“Champions”), a Spanish blockbuster and Spain’s International Oscar submission, has been acquired by theatrical distributor Vox, VOD service Shahid VIP and international sales company Latido Films.

Following the success of “Born a King,” the Saudi “Champions” will be released theatrically across the Middle East in December by Vox, then stream six months later on Shahid VIP, the leading Arabic SVOD platform in the Mena region, part of the Mbc Group, which has acquired both “Champions” and “Born a King” and invested substantially in both pictures.

If it were to click for the production partners, Champions could signal the kernel of ever more ambitious projects. The remake’s $4.5 million budget was produced by Al Maha Al Arabi, the production company of Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud, son of the late King Faisal...

Despite dramatic times, there is room for some encouragement in recent moves by the Spanish film industry. Basque global hit “The Platform” proved the most-watched movie on Netflix in the U.S. The Mediapro Studio is upping film production with high-profile projects such as the Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas drama “Official Competition.” Meanwhile, Mr. Fields and Friends, headed by Bambú founders Ramón Campos and Teresa Fernández-Valdés, debuted with “Malasaña 32,” as well as plans to produce three to five movies every two years. Powerhouse Morena Films is in production with “Historias lamentables,” a drama from the team behind Spanish box office smash “Champions.”

Six days before producers will be allowed to restart production shoots in Spain, Pedro Sánchez’s Psoe socialist government has powered up the tax breaks cap for Hollywood and other foreign shoots as part of a relief package for Spain’s cultural industries.

Plowed through a...

Spain’s Peris Costumes is also making more stock to help key workers.

Spain-based costume company Peris Costumes, which worked on hit TV drama Chernobyl, is donating its collection of face masks and other stock to help key workers in the efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

The company is also using its workshops in Madrid and Lisbon to make new protective face masks, robes and helmets, all of which will go to frontline staff in nursing homes, hospitals, police departments, social services and city halls.

“We are living in a nightmare in which reality overcomes fiction,” said Peris Costumes CEO Javier Toledo.

Sales for the Argentinian box-office hit spice up a busy Efm for the Madrid-based sales outfit .

Madrid-based sales outfit Latido Films has scored several key territory deals on Argentinian box office hit The Heist Of The Century (El robo del siglo) after market screenings at this year’s Efm.

The based on a true story comedy about a botched bank robbery has gone to France (Eurozoom), Spain (Syldavia), Greece (Rosebud), Switzerland (Trigon) and Australia (Palace). There are also offers on the table from Russia, Italy and China.

Released in Argentina this January, The Heist Of The Century is directed by...