12/11/2009

In the end, there appears to be some truth in the predictions that 2009 would be a good year (or at least better than previous years, which is not too hard) for Spanish cinema. This is borne out by the fact that for the sixth consecutive week, a Spanish film has been at the top of the weekly box office rankings.

Firstly, there are the impressive results for Agora [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (number one for four weeks, total takings of €18.4m, in second position this week). Now, Daniel Monzón’s Cell 211 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniel Monzón
film profile] has come along, shooting straight to top spot and amassing €1.25m. For the first time since January 2008, two Spanish productions claim the top two places in the rankings.

Cell 211, which was presented in the Venice Days section at the latest Venice Film Festival, is expected to have a lengthy career ahead of it, thanks to its rave reviews and word-of-mouth endorsement.

Despite being distributed in Spain by Fox and Universal respectively, both Agora and Cell 211 were produced by Telecinco, who once again prove they can produce major hits without neglecting quality (even though, as CEO Ghislain Barrois commented, if it were up to them, they wouldn’t produce films at all).

Moreover, the company has another ace up its sleeve before the end of the year: Javier Ruiz Caldera’s comedy Spanish Movie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will be released on December 4 by Fox (see news).

Before the launch of Agora, the box office leader was [REC] 2 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]. Despite not performing as well as its predecessor, which was to be expected given the lack of surprise factor, Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaqueró’s film (also presented at the Venice Film Festival, see review), attracted just under 1m viewers (compared to 1.5m for the first instalment).

(Translated from Spanish)