Linking two top players on the Spanish TV scene, Barcelona studio Filmax has acquired international sales rights to Spanish comedy “Co-Husbands,” whose backers include Telecinco Cinema, producer of Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth” and J.A. Bayona’s The Impossible.”

Filmax will unveil a trailer to clients at this week’s Berlin European Film Market, before the film’s release in Spain on March 10. 

The second feature from Lucia Alemany (“Innocence”), ”Co-Husbands” toplines “House of Flowers” star Paco León. In a gender flip set-up, it turns on Emilio and Tono who both receive phone calls that their wives are in comas after a ski-resort avalanche. At the hospital admissions desk, they make a startling discovery: their wives are, in fact, the same person … Laura. Forced to wait together until Laura regains consciousness, Emilio and Toni engage in a battle to prove who is her one and only true husband.

Ernesto Alterio (“Four’s a Crowd”) stars opposite León. Celia Freijeiro (“Perfect Life”) plays Laura. Pablo Alén (“Three Many Weddings”) and Breixo Corral (“No Culpes al Karma”) wrote the screenplay.

Shot between the iconic west Pyrenees ski resorts of Candanchú, Formigal and Panticosa and Madrid, the film’s backers also include Ciudadano Ciskul (“Three Many Weddings”), Think Studio (“The Invisible Guest”), Dos Maridos AIE, Mediaset España, Movistar+ and Mediterráneo Mediaset España Group.

Filmax has already handled international sales on recent iconic Telecinco Cinema titles “If I Were A Rich Man” and “I Can Quit Whenever I Want,” based on French and Italian originals. 

All three comedies tap into an international zeitgeist, whether huge economic strains on Spain’s middle-class which drives three university lecturers to take up drug dealing (“I Can Quit Whenever I Want”) or machista male perplexity at women’s break with traditional role models (“Co-Husbands”). 

Though some comedies don’t travel well, “Co-Husbands” has “a very universal concept and Paco León and Ernesto Alterio are both wonderful actors and their talents put to great use with this fresh and modern script,” said Ivan Diaz, Filmax head of international.

Based on sales on recent comedies, “Co-Husbands” has great potential to do well internationally, as well as selling for remakes in foreign markets,” he added. “Big comedies can also sell to clients and broadcasters which used to buy big studio product. Even studios are currently keeping much of their product for their own platforms, our comedies can take up part of that slack,” Díaz added.

By Variety - See full article here

CO-HUSBANDS