17/06/2011

Last Monday, shooting started in Madrid on the comedy Brain Drain 2, the sequel to one of the surprise hits of 2009. Although its heavy-handed humour didn’t exactly endear it to critics, the first instalment topped 1m viewers (1.18m) and grossed almost €7m. This latest instalment will try to repeat this success using similar tactics: teenage humour and well-known faces from TV.

There has been a change of director – this time Carlos Therón – but the producers are the same: Antena 3 Films, Globomedia and Cangrejo Films. Fernando González Molina, who helmed the first instalment, is sticking to producing this time, as he is busy preparing Tengo Ganas de Ti (“I Want You”), the sequel to Three Meters Above the Sky.

Penned by the same screenwriters, Alex Pina and Curro Velázquez, the film centres on Alfonso Carbajosa, who pursues the girl he loves all the way to Harvard, determined to win her heart using the same ideas as his brother Emilio in Oxford (in Brain Drain [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), and with the same misfit friends. Things get even more complicated when Alfonso unexpectedly bumps into his childhood sweetheart.

Once again, the cast will be one of the film’s strong points, including Adrián Lastra, Patricia Montero, Paula Prendes, Alberto Amarilla, Gorka Lasaosa, Canco Rodríguez and Pablo Penedo, most of whom appeared in the first instalment.

Brain Drain 2 also marks another chapter in the successful stream of comedies produced with backing from Antena 3 Films, including Chef’s Special [+see also:
trailer
film profile], The Friend Zone [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Borja Cobeaga
film profile], To Hell With the Ugly and No Lo Llames Amor... Llámalo X [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (“Don’t Call It Love, Call It X”). All of the above films are characterised by their focus on young audiences, their open attempt to connect with viewers, their fluid dialogue with television (in terms of the creators and actors) and, with the exception of the last title, their immense box-office popularity.

The seven-week shoot will take place in the Madrid region and Cantabria. Universal Pictures International will release the film in Spain on December 2, 2011.

(Translated from Spanish)