CANNES — France’s Le Pacte has acquired rights to France on Spaniard Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “May God Save Us,” one of the latest movies from Spain’s Tornasol Films, producer of Academy Award-winning “My Secret of Their Eyes.”
Warner Bros. has taken Spanish rights to the title, planning an October release.
Deal was sealed Tuesday at the Cannes Film Market by “May God’s’” sales agent Latido. It follows Le Pacte’s release last year of Spaniard Alberto Rodriguez’s Goya winner “Marshland,” which, released July 15, sold over 350,000 theatre tickets (about $2.5 million in gross B.O.). That performance made it the fifth-highest grossing movie in France last year made in a language other than French or English.
Co-produced by Atresmedia Cine, the powerful film production-acquisition arm of Atresmedia, “May God Save Us” is a harrowing Madrid procedural – in the crimes, the case’s length, and its characters’ emotional dysfunction. It is already being buzzed up as one of the Spanish films of 2016.
Sorogoyen’s second movie after “Stockholm,” tracks two members of its homicide squad assigned to a series of gruesome crimes. One cop, Alfaro, is under investigation by internal affairs after gouging the eye of a colleague. His partner, Valverde, attempts to seduce a woman, ends up attacking her. The only people they relate to are each other. The serial killer rapes then murders old women who live alone. Painting a jaundiced portrait of the police force, and unspooling in the dog days of August, 1.5 million pilgrims converge on Madrid to await the visit of the Pope, “May God Save Us” portrays men unable to control their actions or establish beneficial relations with women. The difference between the cops and the killer is one of degree, not kind.
A large step-up in scale for Sorogoyen ,“May God Save Us” will be presented at Toronto. Warner Bros. plans an October release in Spain. It is now sparking large interest among buyers for Germany and Italy, said Latido head Antonio Saura.
“After the tremendous success we had with ‘Marshland,’ Le Pacte is proud and excited to be able to release this new Spanish noir film,” said Le Pacte founder Jean Labadie.
He added: “It is a beautifully crafted film, that subverts the genre and twists it into a nail-biting thrill ride with emotional resonance sure to leave audiences gasping for air. It clearly marks the arrival of a major new Spanish director to count on in the future.”’
