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PRODUCTION / FUNDING Spain / France / USA

Rodrigo Cortés gets the ball rolling on his new film, Escape

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- Mario Casas, José García and Anna Castillo topline the cast of the big-screen adaptation of Enrique Rubio’s novel of the same name, which is being executive-produced by maestro Martin Scorsese

Rodrigo Cortés gets the ball rolling on his new film, Escape
Actors Mario Casas (© Martin Kraft) and José García (© Georges Biard), and actress Anna Castillo (© Pedro J Pacheco)

The great New York-born filmmaker Martin Scorsese – who has just presented his latest little gem, Killers of the Flower Moon, at Cannes – is serving as an executive producer on the upcoming project by Rodrigo Cortés, principal photography for which begins in just a few days’ time. Escape will be the new film by the Salamanca native after the black comedy The Contestant [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, which was followed by Buried [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Cortés
film profile
]
, a movie starring only one actor, Ryan Reynolds. After this came Red Lights [+see also:
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Cortés
film profile
]
, a big-budget production shot in Madrid but boasting two Hollywood stars in the guise of Robert de Niro (a go-to actor and good friend of Scorsese’s) and Sigourney Weaver; Blackwood, featuring another star, Uma Thurman; and the musical Love Gets a Room [+see also:
trailer
interview: Rodrigo Cortés
film profile
]
, which was presented at the 2021 Seville Film Festival.

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Escape will be toplined by Mario Casas, the winner of a Goya Award for Cross the Line [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: David Victori
film profile
]
and one of Spanish cinema’s most popular actors (he has also made his directorial debut with Mi soledad tiene alas, which is set to be released on 25 August), who is flanked by thesps such as Anna Castillo (recently nominated for a Goya Award for Wild Flowers [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaime Rosales
film profile
]
and about to hit Spanish screens in Golem [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Burnin’ Percebes
film profile
]
), José Garcia (glimpsed recently in Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
and set to appear in Spanish movie theatres from 14 July onwards in Esperando a Dalí), Guillermo Toledo, Josep María Pou, Blanca Portillo (a recent Goya Award winner for Maixabel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Icíar Bollaín
film profile
]
) and veteran actor José Sacristán (whom we saw last year in 13 exorcismos [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
).

Cortés has also penned the screenplay for this loose adaptation of Enrique Rubio’s book of the same name. The author suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome: “I am this novel,” the writer stated when presenting the film together with the director. “The protagonist sees things that other people can’t see, as he comes from a bubble, and when he comes out of it, he discovers that the world is not the same as it is in the books he’s read. In addition, Rodrigo Cortés and I are alike in many respects.”

The plot revolves around a man who wants to live in prison and will do whatever it takes to make this happen. The film raises several questions, such as whether those who are worried about him will stop him from committing ever more serious crimes, and how far the judge will be willing to go to prevent him from getting his wish.

Escape is The Count of Montecristo but backwards, Papillon back to front and Escape from Alcatraz backwards,” opined Cortés about the original story. “The protagonist, who does not want anyone to disturb him, does the opposite of what a sensible person would do: he wants to stop making decisions.”

The film is being produced by Adrián Guerra and Núria Valls, of Nostromo Pictures, in co-production with French outfit The Project, and in conjunction with Mogambo and Cosmopolitan TV. It has secured support from RTVE and Movistar Plus+. Film Factory Entertainment is overseeing its international sales, while Beta Fiction Spain will distribute the movie in Spanish theatres.

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(Translated from Spanish)

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