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BOX OFFICE Spain

The Impossible Spanish cinema’s most successful release ever

by 

- J. A. Bayona’s second feature, based on a true story and starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts, reaps almost €10m in receipts in four days

The indirect main character (a tsunami) and title (The Impossible [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Antonio Bayona
film profile
]
) of J. A. Bayona’s latest film (read the interview) have given rise to all sorts of puns in traditional and social media to describe its success at the box office this past weekend. Indeed -- let us follow the trend -- what a box office tsunami this Apaches Entertainment and Telecinco Cinema production distributed by Warner Bros España has been! In this dark period, it has achieved that which previously seemed impossible for a Spanish film.

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With the astounding figures of 1.4 million admissions and almost €10m in receipts in only four days (the film was released on Thursday because of the national holiday on Friday, October 12), The Impossible has become the most successful film release in the history of Spanish cinema.

Over the last five years, only six films (The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Planet 51 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Torrente 4 [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, I Want You [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, and Tad, the Lost Explorer [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
) had previously managed to surpass €10m in receipts. The 633 cinemas that screened The Impossible proved to be too small and many spectators were unable to get a ticket, which, combined with positive word of mouth, all points to the film's continued success. The target now is €40m.

Worldwide, The Impossible was box office number 7 this weekend.

J. A. Bayona’s previous film, his feature debut The Orphanage, became an unexpected box office hit in 2007 when it was viewed by 4.42 million spectators and made over €25m in box office receipts.

It was a good weekend for Spanish cinema overall (68.2% of the market), with another great week for now box office number two Tad, the Lost Explorer (an extra €1m in earnings, and €15m since its release) adding to The Impossible’s great success.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Spanish)

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