Daniel Grao to Star in Disney+ Spain’s Adaptation of YA Mystery Novel Franchise “The Invisible Girl”

Daniel Grao is bringing the mystery…

Disney+ has teamed up with Beta Film and Morena Films on an adaptation of young adult mystery novel franchise The Invisible Girl, starring the 46-year-old Spanish actor.

Daniel Grao The Spanish arm of streamer Disney+ has put the eight-hour series into production in Carmona, southern Spain, and various locations across the province of Seville.

The series is based on a trilogy of YA books from Blue Jeans, with Spanish producer Moreno leading on production and Beta taking international rights, bar the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Iberia.

Grao and Zoe Stein have landed the leads, playing a father and daughter involved in the investigation of a murdered teenage girl in the picturesque fictional town of Cárdena, set in Andalusia, in what’s billed as an “atmospheric thriller.”

The two are forced to put their differences aside and to succumb their tense relationship in order to solve the murder case rocking a supposedly peaceful town, where all inhabitants are suspects.

Tito López Amado and Aritz Moreno are directing, with a writing team including Carmen López-Areal, Marina Efron, Antonio Hernández Centeno, Ramón Tarrés, and Ian de la Rosa.

Pedro Uriol, executive producer at Morena Films said: “The Invisible Girl will surprise both fans of the novel and those who do not know the story yet. The young-adult thriller is mysterious and exciting with a sensational cast and a purely cinematic look. Father and daughter need to overcome their differences to solve a murder case that has shaken the peaceful lives of the inhabitants of Cárdena; it is a character-driven story which will captivate viewers visually and emotionally.”

HBO Max Acquires Leticia Dolera’s Spanish-Language Original “Perfect Life,” Plans to Co-Produce Second Season

Leticia Dolera’s perfect life is getting more attention…

HBO Max has acquired the 39-year-old actress, writer and director’s Spanish-language original Perfect Life (Vida Perfecta) and has committed to co-producing a second season alongside Telefónica’s local streamer Moviestar+.

Leticia Dolera

The WarnerMedia streamer will debut Perfect Life on January 21, following the lives of Maria, Cristina, and Esther, who are in search of their place in the world as they navigate the humiliations and celebrations that come with being a thirty-something millennial.

The series was created by Dolera, who stars as Maria. It was produced by Movistar+ along with Corte y Confeccion de Peliculas in association with Beta Film, which handles international sales. Season 2 has just wrapped in Spain.

Crowned Best Series at the Canneseries Festival, the story centers on Maria, Cristina, and Esther as they realize that the plans they had made for themselves haven’t really gotten them the long-promised happiness they yearned for. Together, they will find unexpected alternatives.

The series also stars Celia Freijeiro and Aixa Villagran.

Perfect Life will feature on the new International Genre page on HBO Max.

 

France’s TF1 Acquires Alex Pina’s Romantic Thriller “The Pier”

Alex Pina’s latest project is feeling the love…

France’s TF1 has acquired the Spanish television producer’s Movistar + Original The Pier, sold by Beta Film, and produced with Atresmedia Studios.

Alex Pina

Also produced by Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato’s Vancouver Media, The Pier marks the showrunner duo’s follow-up to La Casa de Papel (Money Heist), declared by Netflix to be its most watched non English-language series ever.

Alvaro Morte, the professor inLa Casa de Papel plays the male lead. Capturing a near futuristic Valencia, and the nearby Albufera National Park, an expanse of marshland and rice paddy fields, where time seems to move at another race, Pina has commented, the cinematography looks stunning.

In other ways, this is a departure, a sensual romantic thriller in which an accomplished architect (Verónica Sánchez) is confronted with the alleged suicide of her husband. Investigating on her own, she discovers the secret double-life he had led with another woman (Irene Arcos) and also her own unsuspected new depths and desires.

The main cast, co-director Jesús Colmenar and the producers will be present when The Piercelebrates its red carpet world premiere at Mipcom on Tuesday, October 16, at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

“As a leading channel, TF1’s role is to create events and to work with the best talents and partners. The Pierand the work of Alex Pina meet our requirements,” said Fabrice Bailly, head of program and acquisitions, TF1 Group, who added: “After the excellent performances of ‘Good Doctor’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ on our channels this year, we are sure that ‘The Pier’ will add to our success.”

Pina and Martínez’s stylish, innovative and morally ambiguous money mint robbery thriller La Casa de Papelwas a huge hit in France. In its take on modern sexual relations, The Pieris likely to maintain their envelope-pushing on traditional morality.

The Pieris a woman’s drama, Martinez has said, where “women behave as women.”

ABC Orders Pilot of the Eva Longoria-Produced Drama “Grand Hotel”

It’s a grand old time for Eva Longoria

ABC has ordered a pilor for the soapy drama Grand Hotel based on the Spanish series, from the 42-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star and the hit ABC/ABC Studios dramedy’s writer Brian Tanen.

Eva Longoria

Written by Tanen, Grand Hotel is a soap opera-like drama set against the backdrop of a Miami Beach hotel, centering around the family who owns the business, the staff who run it, and the explosive secrets they hide under the perfect exterior.

Longoria and Ben Spector are executive producing via UnbeliEVAble Entertainment alongside Tanen as well as Oliver Bachert and Christian Gockel of Beta Film, which distributed the original series.

UnveliEVAble, ABC and ABC Studios also developed a Grand Hotel adaptation last season with a different writer.

Televisa USA previously took a stab at an English-language adaptation of the series set in pre-Castro Havana.

Gran Hotel (aka Grand Hotel) was created and produced by Bambu Producciones and ran on Spain’s Antena 3 for three seasons, with its first season reaching a 18.5% share. Dubbed “a Spanish Downton Abbey,” the original series, set in 1905 Spain, has been a top international seller for Beta Films.

Eva Longoria Developing English-Adaptation of Spain’s “Gran Hotel” for ABC

Eva Longoria is having a gran old time…

ABC is developing Grand Hotel, a soapy drama from the42-year-old Mexican American actress/producer and former Desperate Housewives star and writer Brian Tanen.

Eva Longoria

The project, from Longoria and Ben Spector’s UnveliEVAble Entertainment and ABC Studios, is based on the popular Spanish telenovela Gran Hotel.

Written by Tanen, Grand Hotel is a soapy drama set against the backdrop of a Miami Beach hotel, centering around the family who owns the business, the staff who run it, and the explosive secrets they hide under the perfect exterior.

Tanen, Longoria and Spector executive produce alongside Oliver Bachert and Christian Gockel of Beta Film, which distributes the original series.

Gran Hotel

UnveliEVAble, ABC and ABC Studios also developed a Grand Hotel adaptation last season with a different writer. Televisa USA previously took a stab at an English-language adaptation of the series set in pre-Castro Havana.

Gran Hotel was created and produced by Bambu Producciones and ran on Spain’s Antena 3 for three seasons, with its first season reaching a 18.5% share.

Dubbed “a Spanish Downton Abbey,” the original series, set in 1905 Spain, has been a top international seller for Beta Films.

Longoria recently teamed with another former Desperate Housewives writer, David Schulner, for immigrant drama Lucky Boy, with Nisha Ganatra directing.