Penelope Cruz to Executive Produce & Narrate Child Marriage Documentary Series “Not A Bride”

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz will be talking child marriages…

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress will executive produce and narrate the four-part documentary series Not A Bride.

Hailing from VIS Social Impact, the cause-driven production division of ViacomCBS International Studios, and Pedro Almodóvar’s El Deseo and Spanish indie Mogambo, the series has been acquired by Paramount+ internationally.

Written and directed by Dario Troiani, the series aims to uncover common misconceptions surrounding child marriages. According to NGO Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage, 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 each year, which means 23 girls every minute. Child, early and forced marriage and unions happen all over the world, and 650 million women alive today face the direct consequences of child marriage. Not A Bride will shed light on the reality that this occurs in many countries, cultures and religions.

“With the continued expansion of Paramount+ internationally, it’s important that our production slate is reflective of the ways in which our audiences see ourselves and one another. By partnering with El Deseo and Mogambo, we hope to address common misconceptions associated with child marriages, to inform our audiences around the world,” said Laura Abril, Senior Vice President and Head of VIS EMEA and Asia.

Georgia Arnold, Head of VIS Social Impact and SVP Social Responsibility, ViacomCBS Networks International added, “With the recent launch of VIS Social Impact, our studio’s mission is to develop groundbreaking social impact-driven content that addresses equity, as well as climate and health. Not A Bride will harness the power of storytelling to address the critical global issue of child marriage, and we hope its worldwide debut on Paramount+ will help to shift perceptions and create meaningful progress towards a more gender equal world.”

El Deseo’s Esther García, who will executive produce with Agustín and Pedro Almodóvar, commented, “The testimonies of the girls and women who have suffered this traumatic experience are shocking. Through this documentary we aim to give the world a better idea of this huge problem which we truly hope will begin to be solved.”

VIS Social Impact is part of Content for Change, a global ViacomCBS initiative that aims to counteract racism, bias, stereotypes and hate through the company’s culture, creative supply chain, and the content it creates. Not A Bride is the second VIS Social Impact project announced, following Protest & Progress from photographer and social activist, Misan Harriman, which will also debut on Paramount+.

Fernando León de Aranoa’s “Good Boss” Earns Record 20 Goya Award Nominations

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Fernando León de Aranoa’s livin’ the Good (Boss) life…

The nominations have been announced for the Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars, with the 53-year-old Spanish screenwriter and film director’s comedy-drama The Good Boss racking up an all-time record of 20 nominations across 17 categories.

The film, starring Javier Bardem, is up for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

In the acting categories, it also set another record by racking up seven nominations: Bardem is up for Best Actor, Celso Bugallo, Fernando Albizu and Manolo Solo are up for Best Supporting Actor, Sonia Almarcha will contend for the Best Supporting Actress award, Oscar de la Fuente and Tarik Rmili are up for Best Emerging Actor, and Almudena Amor is up for Best Emerging Actress.

Finally, the film is also nominated in the following categories: Best Original Score (Zeltia Montes), Best Production Design (Luis Gutiérrez), Best Cinematography (Pau Esteve Birba), Best Editing (Vanessa L. Marimbert), Best Art Direction (Cesar Macarrón), Best Costume Design (Fernando García), Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Almudena Fonseca), Best Sound (Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri) and Best Special Effects (Raúl Romanillos and Miriam Piquer).

Produced by The Reposado P.C. and The Mediapro Studio, The Good Boss sees Bardem play a scheming factory boss whose plans to control his workforce begin to backfire. It is representing Spain in this year’s Oscar race.

Elsewhere at the Goyas, Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers will also compete for Best Film, alongside Clara Roquet’s Libertad, Iciar Bollain’s Maixabel and Marcel Barrena’s Mediterráneo.

León de Aranoa, Almodóvar and Bollain will compete alongside The Daughter helmer Manuel Martín Cuenca for Best Director.

Penelope Cruz, who has already struck gold with her performance in Parallel Mothers by winning Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival, is nominated for the same prize at this year’s Goyas.

The 2022 Goya Awards will be held on February 12, 2022 at Les Arts de València.

Here’s a look at the 2022 Spanish Academy Goya nominations:

BEST PICTURE
“The Good Boss,” (Fernando León de Aranoa)
“Libertad,” (Clara Roquet)
“Parallel Mothers,” (Pedro Almodóvar)
“Maixabel,” (Iciar Bollain)
“Mediterráneo,” (Marcel Barrena)

DIRECTOR
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Manuel Martín Cuenca, (“The Daughter”)
Pedro Almodóvar, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Iciar Bollain, (“Maixabel”)

ACTOR
Javier Bardem, (“The Good Boss”)
Javier Gutiérrez, (“The Daughter”)
Luis Tosar, (“Maixabel”)
Eduard Fernández, (“Mediterráneo”)

ACTRESS
Emma Suárez, (“Josefina”)
Petra Martínez, (“La vida era eso”)
Penélope Cruz, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Blanca Portillo, (“Maixabel”)

NEW DIRECTOR
Carol Rodríguez Colás, (“Chavalas”)
Javier Marco Rico, (“Josefina”)
David Martín de los Santos, (“La vida era eso”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Fernando León de Aranoa, (“The Good Boss”)
Clara Roquet, (“Libertad”)
Iciar Bollain, Isa Campo, (“Maixabel”)
Juanjo Giménez Peña, Pere Altimira, (“Tres”)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Júlia de Paz Solvas, Núria Dunjó López (“Ama”)
Agustí Villaronga (“El vientre del mar”)
Daniel Monzón, Jorge Guerricaechevarría (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Benito Zambrano, Cristina Campos (“Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake”)

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Zeltia Montes, (“The Good Boss”)
Fatima Al Qadiri, (“La abuela”)
Alberto Iglesias, (“Maixabel”)
Arnau Bataller, (“Mediterráneo”)

ORIGINAL SONG
Àngel Leiro, Jean-Paul Dupeyron, Xavier Capellas, (“Álbum de posguerra”)
Antonio Orozco, Jordi Colell Pinillos, (“El cover”)
Alejandro García Rodríguez, Antonio Molinero León, Daniel Escortell Blandino, José Manuel Cabrera Escot, Miguel García Cantero, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Maria José Llergo, (“Mediterráneo”)

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Celso Bugallo. (“The Good Boss”)
Fernando Albizu, (“The Good Boss”)
Manolo Solo, (“The Good Boss,”)
Urko Olazabal, (“Maixabel”)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Sonia Almarcha, (“The Good Boss”)
Nora Navas, (“Libertad”)
Aitana Sánchez Gijón (“Parallel Mothers”)
Milena Smit, (“Parallel Mothers”)

NEW ACTOR
Óscar de la Fuente, (“The Good Boss”)
Tarik Rmili, (“The Good Boss,”)
Chechu Salgado (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Jorge Motos (“Lucas”)

NEW ACTRESS
Ángela Cervantes, (“Chavalas”)
Almudena Amor, (“The Good Boss”)
Nicolle García, (“Libertad”)
María Cerezuela, (“Maixabel”)

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Óscar Vigiola, (“Love Gets a Room”)
Luis Gutiérrez, (“The Good Boss”)
Guadalupe Balaguer Trelles, (“Maixabel”)
Albert Espel, Kostas Seakianakis, (“Mediterráneo”)

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Pau Esteve Birba, (“The Good Boss”)
Gris Jordana, (“Libertad”)
José Luis Alcaine, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Kiko de la Rica, (“Mediterráneo”)

EDITING
Antonio Frutos, (“Bajocero”)
Vanessa L. Marimbert, (“The Good Boss”)
Miguel Doblado, (“Josefina”)
Nacho Ruiz Capillas, (“Maixabel”)

ART DIRECTION
César Macarrón, (“The Good Boss”)
Balter Gallart, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Antxón Gómez, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Mikel Serrano, (“Maixabel”)

COSTUME DESIGN
Alberto Valcárcel, (“Love gets a room”)
Fernando García, (“The Good Boss”)
Vinyet Escobar, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Clara Bilbao, (“Maixabel”)

MAKEUP
Almudena Fonseca, Manolo García, (“The Good Boss”)
Sarai Rodríguez, Benjamín Pérez, Nacho Díaz, (“Las leyes de la frontera”)
Eli Adánez, Sergio Pérez Berbel, Nacho Díaz, (“Libertad”)
Karmele Soler, Sergio Pérez Berbel, (“Maixabel”)

SOUND DESIGN
Iván Marín, Pelayo Gutiérrez, Valeria Arcieri, (“The Good Boss”)
Sergio Bürmann, Laia Casanovas, Marc Orts, (“Parallel Mothers”)
Alazne Ameztoy, Juan Ferro, Candela Palencia, (“Maixabel”)
Daniel Fontrodona, Oriol Tarragó, Marc Bech, Marc Orts, (“Tres”)

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Raúl Romanillos, Míriam Piquer, (“The Good Boss”)
Raúl Romanillos, Ferran Piquer, (“La abuela”)
Àlex Villagrasa, (“Mediterráneo”)
Pau Costa, Laura Pedro, (“Way Down”)

ANIMATED FEATURE
“Gora automatikoa,” (Esaú Dharma, David Galán Galindo, Pablo Vara)
“Mironins,” (Álex Cervantes, Ángel Coronado, Anton Roebben, Eric Goossens, Iván Agenjo, Mikel Mas)
“Salvar el árbol (Zutik!)” (Carmelo Vivanco, Egoitz Rodríguez, Fernando Alonso, Jonatan Guzmán, Nelson Botter)
“Valentina,” (Brandán de Brano, Chelo Loureiro, Luís da Matta, Mariano Baratech, Noa García)

IBEROAMERICAN FEATURE
“Canción sin nombre,” (Melina León, Peru)
“La cordillera de los sueños,” (Patricio Guzmán, Chile)
“Las siamesas,” (Paula Hernández, Argentina)
“Los lobos,” (Samuel Kishi, Mexico)

EUROPEAN FEATURE
“Bye Bye Morons,” (Albert Dupontel, France)
“I’m Your Man,” (Maria Schrader, Germany)
“Another Round,” (Thomas Vinterberg, Dinamarca)
“Promising Young Woman” (Emerald Fennell, United Kingdom)

FICTION SHORT
“Farrucas,” (Ian de la Rosa)
“Mindanao,” (Borja Soler)
“Tótem loba,” (Verónica Echegui)
“Votamos,” (Santiago Requejo)
“Yalla,” (Carlo D’Ursi)

DOCUMENTARY
“The Return: Life After ISIS,” (Alba Sotorra)
“Heroes. Silence and Rock and Roll,” (Alexis Morante)
“Quién lo impide,” (Jonás Trueba)
“Tehran Blues,” (Javier Tolentino)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
“Dajla: cine y olvido,” (Arturo Dueñas Herrero)
“Figurante,” (Nacho Fernández)
“Mamá,” (Pablo de la Chica)
“Ulisses,” (Joan Bover)

ANIMATED SHORT
“Nacer,” (Roberto Valle)
“Proceso de selección,” (Carla Pereira)
“The Monkey,” (Lorenzo Degl’Innocenti, Xosé Zapata)
“Umbrellas,” (José Prats)

Penélope Cruz Begins Filming New Drama “On The Fringe”

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penélope Cruz is on the fringes of another acclaimed performance…

Principal photography has begun on the 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress’ new drama On The Fringe (En Los Márgenes).

The film is directed by Juan Diego Botto, and written by Botto and Olga Rodríguez.

Currently filming on location in Madrid, the Spanish-language film stars an ensemble cast which includes Cruz, Luis Tosar, Aixa Villagrán, Adelfa Calvo, Nur Levi and Christian Checa.

Told over the course of one day, the movie will follow interweaving stories, including that of a woman (Cruz) who has 24 hours to prevent herself and her family being evicted from their home by a bank intent on repossessing it. Cell 211 star Tosar will play a passionate lawyer and activist.

The film is a Spanish-Belgian co-production and is produced by Cruz and Álvaro Longoria for Morena Films.

The duo recently teamed up on Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Film Festival title Everybody Knows. Co-producers are Amazon Prime Video and RTVE with the support of Ayuntamiento de Madrid.

Spanish distribution will be handled by Squirrel Media’s film distribution arm, Vértice Cine, which will release theatrically. Amazon Prime has first window rights in Spain after the theatrical bow.

The film marks actor Botto’s directorial debut after recent performances in movies including The Suicide Squad and Netflix series White Lines.

Pedro Almodóvar’s “Parallel Mothers” to Have Red-Carpet Premiere at This Year’s AFI Fest

Posted on October 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodóvar is bringing his Mother(s) to this year’s AFI Fest.

After opening the Venice Film Festival and continuing on to the New York Film Festival, the 72-year-old Oscar-winning director’s latest film Parallel Mothers will have a red-carpet premiere at this year’s AFI Fest at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Saturday, November 13.

In the movie, two women, Janis and Ana, played by Penelope Cruz and Milena Smit, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.

Cruz won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice. Parallel Mothers to date is 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In total, AFI Fest counts 115 titles (48 Features, 1 Episodic, 49 Short Films and 17 Conservatory Showcase Shorts) of which 51% are directed by women, 40% directed by BIPOC filmmakers and 13% are directed by LGBTQIA+ filmmakers. This year’s program represents 50 countries and includes six World Premieres. The festival runs from November 10-14.

“We are excited to celebrate AFI Fest 2021 in person at the historic TCL Chinese theater and showcase both master filmmakers and emerging voices,” said Sarah Harris, Director of Programming, AFI Festivals. “In a time when we need movies more than ever, we look forward to audiences being inspired by the best films from around the world screening at this year’s AFI Fest.”

Returning filmmakers to AFI Fest are Hany Abu-Assad (Huda’s Salon), Andrea Arnold (Cow), Jacques Audiard (Paris, 13th District), Sean Baker (Red Rocket), Michel Franco (Sundown), Miguel Gomes (The Sugua Diaries), Mahamat-Saleh Haroun (Lingui, The Sacret Bonds), Céline Sciamma (Petite Maman), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Memoria), and Zhang Yimou (One Second).

Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers” Added to Spotlight Section at This Year’s Hamptons Film Festival

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Pedro Almodovar is headed to the Hamptons…

The Hamptons Film Festival has finalized its 2021 slate, with the 71-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning director’s latest film making the list.

Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers, starring Penelope Cruz, has been added to the festival’s Spotlight section, alongside Cyrano, The Lost Daughter, The Power of the Dog, joining C’mon C’mon and Jockey.

Parallel Mothers received a 5-minute standing ovation when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival as the fest’s opening night film. It earned Cruz the Volpi Cup for Best Actress during the festival’s closing ceremony.

Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, starring Tony Revolori, will be the closing-night film on October 13, while Pablo Larraín’s Spencer will be the Centerpiece Film in its East Coast premiere.

The festival is opening on October 7 with the world premiere of Matthew Heineman’s COVID-19 documentary The First Wave. The 29th edition of the fest will feature a lineup of films that are 53% female-directed and rep 34 countries.

The festival will run as a hybrid in-person/virtual event. Find more info here.

Penelope Cruz Wins Best Actress Prize at Venice Film Festival

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz’s latest performance is already earning her some hardware…

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress was awarded the Volpi Cup Best Actress prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Cruz, in an upset for Spencer star Kristen Stewart, won the award for the performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Parallel Mothers.

In her acceptance, she said the honor was 100% his, saying, “thank you once again for your trust in me, for inspiring me every day with your search for truth inside and outside the set… you have created magic again.”

Cruz further dedicated the win to her husband Javier Bardem and their children as well as to Bardem’s recently deceased mother. Pilar Bardem “did so much for actors and actresses in our country and her love and passion for this wonderful profession was huge,” said Cruz, adding, “At the end of our last conversation she told me, ‘I love you.’ She was very fragile and I thought those were her last words to me, but then very quiet and very soft and with a smile on her face she said to me two more words ‘Coppa Volpi’… This is for all the mothers.”

Parallell Mothers centers on two single women, who meet in a hospital room where they are both going to give birth. One is middle aged and doesn’t regret it, while the other is adolescent and scared. The two women form a strong bond with one another as they both confront motherhood.

Chilean filmmakers Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña won the Best Short Film prize.

They took home the award for their film Los Huesos, a fictitious take on the world’s first animated film, which uses a three-person melodrama as a metaphor for Chile’s turbulent socio-political regime. Dated in 1901 and excavated in 2021 as Chile drafts a new constitution, the “found” footage shows a young girl performing a ritual with human body parts. The corpses are revealed as the bodies of Diego Portales and Jaime Guzmán, central figures in the construction of authoritarian and oligarchic Chile.

French-Lebanese filmmaker Audrey Diwan won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, for her 1963-set abortion drama L’Evénement (Happening).

Here’s the list of the award winners:

VENICE 78

Golden Lion
L’Evénement, dir: Audrey Diwan

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize
The Hand Of God, dir: Paolo Sorrentino

Silver Lion, Best Director
Jane Campion, The Power Of The Dog

Volpi Cup Best Actress
Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers

Volpi Cup Best Actor
John Arcilla, On The Job: The Missing 8

Best Screenplay
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Special Jury Prize
Il Buco, dir: Michelangelo Frammartino

Marcello Mastroianni Award for for Best New Young Actor or Actress
Filippo Scotti, The Hand Of God

HORIZONS

Best Film
Pilgrims, dir: Laurynas Bareisa

Best Director
Eric Gravel, A Plein Temps

Special Jury Prize
El Gran Movimiento, dir: Kiro Russo

Best Actress
Laure Calamy, A Plein Temps

Best Actor
Piseth Chhun, White Building

Best Screenplay
Ivan Ostrochovský, Peter Kerekes: 107 Mothers

Best Short Film
Los Huesos, dirs: Cristóbal León, Joaquín Cociña

Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award For A Debut Film
Imaculat, dirs: Monica Stan, George Chiper Lillemark

VENICE VR EXPANDED

Grand Jury Prize for Best VR
Goliath: Playing With Reality, dirs: Barry Gene Murphy, May Abdalla

Best VR Experience
Le Bal De Paris De Blanca Li, dir: Blanca Li

Best VR Story
End of Night, dir: David Adler

HORIZONS EXTRA

Audience Award
The Blind Man Who Did Not Want To See Titanic, dir: Teemu Nikki

Penelope Cruz’s “Official Competition” Acquired for UK Distribution by Protagonist Pictures

Posted on September 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz’s latest project is headed to theaters in United Kingdom…

The 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress’ Spanish-language comedy Official Competition, co-starring Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez, has been acquired for UK distribution by Protagonist Pictures.

The announcement came ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

In Official Competition, Oscar winner Cruz plays renowned filmmaker Lola Cuevas, who is recruited by a billionaire entrepreneur who impulsively decides to create an iconic movie. Banderas stars as Hollywood heartthrob Félix Rivero, and joining them is Argentinian actor Oscar Martínez (The Distinguished Citizen), who plays radical theatre actor Iván Torres.

The Spanish-language comedy, directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat from a script they wrote with Andrés Duprat, will also screen in the Special Presentations section of the Toronto International Film Festival and will open this year’s Perlak Section at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Produced by The Mediapro Studio, the film has already sold to a string of international indie buyers.

“We are incredibly excited to work with such a talented cast and such lauded directors. We’re thrilled to bring this hilarious and witty film to UK audiences at a time when it is much needed,” said Curzon officials.

Protagonist CCO George Hamilton added: “Our friends at Curzon have a prodigious record in delivering high-quality films to discerning UK audiences, making them the perfect partners to distribute this whip-smart comedy, led by A-list talent at the top of their game, and helmed by some of Spain’s most fiercely talented filmmakers. We know Official Competition is in the best hands possible.”

Pedro Almodovar’s “Madres Paralelas,” Starring Penelope Cruz, to Open Venice Film Festival

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz is ready for a big debut…

The 78th Venice Film Festival will open with Pedro Almodovar’s Madres Paralelas, starring the 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress.

The film will play in Competition and will open the fest on September 1. It also stars Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Julieta Serrano and Rossy De Palma.

The story follows two women, Janis and Ana, who coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and got pregnant by accident.

Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which chance will undertake to develop and complicate in such a decisive way that it will change the lives of both.

The film is produced by El Deseo and will be distributed in Italy by Warner Bros. Pictures. Almodóvar received Venice’s 2019 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

“I was born as a film director in 1983 in Venice,” commented Almodóvar, “In the Mezzogiorno Mezzanotte section. Thirty-eight years later I am called to open the festival. I cannot explain the joy and the honor, and how much this means to me without falling into complacency. I am very grateful to the festival for this recognition and hope to be up to it”.

Venice director Alberto Barbera added: “I am grateful to Pedro Almodóvar for having given us the privilege of opening the film festival with his new movie, an intense and sensitive portrait of two women as they contend with a pregnancy with unpredictable consequences, women’s solidarity, and sexuality that is experienced in full freedom and without hypocrisy, all against the backdrop of a reflection on the ineluctable need for truth that is to be unwaveringly pursued. This is a very welcome return to Venice in Competition for the recipient of our 2019 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, many years after the success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown the movie that marked his definitive triumph on the international scene.”

Universal to Release Penelope Cruz’s Highly Anticipated Femme Action Feature “The 355”

Posted on May 5, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz is heading to the 355 a week earlier…

Simon Kinberg’s femme action feature The 355, starring the 47-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress, will be released a week earlier, on January 7, 2022.

The film was original scheduled to be released over MLK Weekend.

In the film, five women band together to stop a global organization from acquiring a weapon that could thrust the teetering world into total chaos.

The film was bought by Universal for domestic distribution at the Cannes Film Festival back in 2018 for a reported $20M.

The foreign partners, arranged through FilmNation, are hoping for a global launch for what they hope will be another Bourne Identity–like franchise, this one led by an all female lead cast including Jessica Chastain, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, Cruz and Fan Bingbing, with Édgar Ramirez and Sebastian Stan also appearing.

The 355 is directed by Kinberg. He co-wrote the screenplay with Theresa Rebeck.

Sony Pictures Classics Acquires Rights to Penelope Cruz-Starrer “Madres Paralelas” from Pedro Almodovar

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Penelope Cruz’s latest film is going global…

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights in North America, Australia and New Zealand to Parallel Mothers (Madres Paralelas), starring the 46-year-old Spanish Oscar-winning actress.

It’s the 13th collaboration between the distributor and director/producer Pedro Almodóvar’s production company El Deseo.

Production began in Madrid last month on the film, which reunites the Spanish filmmaker with longtime collaborators Cruz, Julieta Serrano and Rossy de Palma.

Parallel Mothers is a drama that centers on three mothers, portrayed by Cruz, Aitana Sánchez Gijón and Milena Smit.

The film expands Almodóvar’s previous depictions of womanhood by turning his focus on imperfect mothers, in a departure from his prior work exploring mothers and motherhood.

Written by Almodóvar, the film also stars Israel Elejalde.

The film is produced by Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García through El Deseo.

Sony Pictures Classics recently released Almodóvar’s short film The Human Voice, starring Tilda Swinton, in theaters alongside a digitally restored re-issue of Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It will be available to stream on HBO Max starting on April 30.

Almodóvar won two Oscars for best foreign language film for All About My Mother and original screenplay for his 2002 title Talk to Her (Hable con Ella).

Cruz has starred in several of Almodovar’s films, including All About My Mother, I’m So Excited!, Volver, Broken Embraces, and Pain and Glory.

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