17/05/2014 - CANNES 2014: Palme d’Or contender Wild Tales has been sold by Barcelona’s Film Factory to Sony Pictures Classics

Wild Tales by Damián Szifron

After Warner Bros, which acquired the film for France, and Cinéart for Benelux, the Argentinian film Wild Tales [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], co-produced by Pedro and Augustín Almódovar’s El Deseo, has been snapped up for North America and Australia/New Zealand by Sony Pictures Classics.

The first major deal of the festival makes Wild Tales a strong contender for the Palme d’Or, just three days into the Cannes Festival competition. The film, directed by Damián Szifron, is described by sales outfit Film Factory as an intense, outrageous and darkly funny multiple-story film, dealing with the drive for success, vertigo, competition and inequality in the world we live in. Argentinian star Ricardo Darín (The Secret in Their Eyes [+see also:
trailer
making of
Interview Juan José Campanella [IT]
Interview Ricardo Darín [IT]
Interview Soledad Villemin [IT]
film profile]) plays one of the lead roles. The film is co-produced by Argentina’s Kramer & Sigman with Spain’s El Deseo. “Wild Tales is as electrifying a film as they come. It is with tremendous excitement that we join our dear friends Pedro, Agustín, Esther, Barbara and the entire El Deseo team, along with Hugo, Matias, K&S and Vicente Canales, to introduce the wild and wacky world of Damián Szifron to the American audience,” said Sony Pictures in a statement.

Barcelona-based Film Factory Entertainment, headed by Canales, has several other attractive Spanish titles on its Cannes line-up, such as the market premieres of Carmina y Amén [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Paco Léon and Spanish Affair [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Ocho apellidos vascos) by Elio Martínez-Lázaro, as well as the English-language animation film Foosball 3D [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Juan José Campanella, pre-sold to a handful of territories including Italy (Koch Media), Russia (Caravela), Turkey (Medyavizyon) and South Korea (Korea Screen). The company is also representing the animated film Mortadelo y Filemón: Mission Implausible, based on the famous comic book. The film, directed by Javier Fesser for Zeta Cinema and Péliculas Pendelton, is currently in production.