EXCLUSIVE: Spanish box office hit The Body (El Cuerpo) is set to get an English-language remake with Mexican multi-hyphenate Isaac Ezban’s (Parallel) Red Elephant Films and Scott Einbinder’s (Killer Joe) LA-based ANA Media. Ezban will direct the thriller and produce alongside Einbinder.
The well-received 2012 original, about a detective searching for the body of a femme fatale which has gone missing from a morgue, bagged $8.3M at the Spanish box office for Sony where it was the third-highest grossing local-language film of the year. Director Oriol Paulo also scored a Goya nomination for best newcomer. Pic was produced by Spanish stalwarts Rodar y Rodar and Antena 3 Films.
The remake deal was brokered by Guido Rud of Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks who represented Red Elephant and ANA Media. London-based Meg Thompson represented the original film’s producers.
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A Korean remake of The Body opened number one last year in its home market and a Hindi-language version is also in the works.
Ezban’s most recent feature effort was BRON-backed 2018 thriller Parallel, which played at Sitges, Fantasia and FrightFest. Previous Spanish-language films for the director include horrors The Incident and The Similars, with the latter picking up the Best Latin American Film award at top Euro genre showcase Sitges.
“Isaac is a such an exciting filmmaker,“ said Einbinder. “A true auteur. I’m confident that he’s going to blow audiences away with his re-imagination of El Cuerpo. It will be a mystery-thriller that will have your brain on fire and your stomach in knots.”
“I like to think of film directors as magicians,” added Ezban. “In that sense, I love a movie that can be a great magic trick. All of Oriol Paulo’s movies are like that in a way. It’s an honor to be working with material of this level. I remember that special feeling after watching El Cuerpo for the first time. I want to touch, entertain and surprise audiences. It’s a story that can be very relevant in today’s America.”
Ezban’s other projects in development include an adaptation of Dan Simmons’ horror novel Summer Of Night for producers Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger.
Einbinder’s most recent credits include teen comedy SuperCool starring Damon Wayans Jr. which is currently in post-production. He is also president and co-CEO of China-backed Cristal Pictures which is financing and currently in production on feature Twin Blades from producer Lauren Shuler Donner and starring Beth Behrs and Ma Li.
Ezban is repped by Paradigm and Good Fear Management.
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