‘La Unidad’ Co-Creators Dani De La Torre And Beto Marini Eyeing Spin-Off And Crafting Female-Led Thriller For Atresmedia Cine

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentJulianne Moore will preside over the main jury of the Venice Film Festival’s upcoming 79th edition.The Oscar-winning U.S. actor, who most recently starred in A24’s “When You Finish Saving the World,” directed by Jesse Eisenberg, and will next appear in Benjamin Caron-directed “Sharper,” alongside Sebastian Stan and John Lithgow, also from A24, is a longtime Venice regular.Moore was last on the Lido with George Clooney-directed “Suburbicon” in 2017.

Refresh for latest…: Coming in slightly above the estimates we reported on Saturday, Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru has boogied to an $87.2M weekend at the international box office. That lifts the offshore cume to $93.7M for $202.2M worldwide to date.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTiny yellow creatures are taking over the international box office.“Minions: The Rise of Gru” ignited to $93.7 million from 61 overseas markets and notched one of the biggest pandemic-era opening weekends for an animated film in many of those territories.Those returns take the fifth installment in Universal and Illumination’s popular “Despicable Me” franchise past $200 million at the global box office. In North America, “The Rise of Gru” debuted to $108 million over the weekend and looks to reach $127.9 million through Independence Day on Monday.Outside of the U.S. and Canada, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” enjoyed the strongest showing in the United Kingdom and Ireland with $12.9 million, followed by Mexico with $12.4 million and Germany with $4.8 million.

EXCLUSIVE: Joel M. Gonzales, the current board president and executive director of Latino arts advocacy group Nosotros, has joined with philanthropist and entrepreneur Amber Butaud to launch Untold Content Group. The production company will develop, finance and produce film, TV, documentary and podcast projects that the company says will be “diverse, authentic and culturally reflective of today’s global audience.”

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorBeta Film has partnered with Morena Films and Disney + Spain, picking up international distribution rights to the young-adult mystery drama “The Invisible Girl,” based on the best-selling book trilogy of the same name by Blue Jeans, a leading figure in YA literature. The eight-hour series is being shot in Carmona, Southern Spain, and in various locations across the province of Seville, among them El Viso del Alcor and Gerena.The thriller series, produced by Morena Films, stars Daniel Grao (“Hit,” “Julieta,” “Gigantes”) and Zoe Stein (“Mantícora,” “Merlí.Sapere Aude”), playing father and daughter involved in the investigation of a murder of a teenage girl in the picturesque fictional town of Cárdena, set in Andalusia.

Disney+ has teamed with Beta Film and Morena Films on an adaptation of young adult mystery novel franchise The Invisible Girl from leading YA author Blue Jeans.

Hola! reported that the couple treated their guests to a gluten-free banquet before the celebrations took a more festive turn.  They opened the dance floor with a slow song before their guests joined in and danced to the musical musings of DJ Quike AV.

Jill Biden welcomed family members and Hispanic celebrities at the United States Embassy in Madrid to continue the party and honor art and culture. The First Lady and one of her granddaughters, Maisy Biden, delighted with flamenco music and local singer Israel Fernández. Luz Casal accompanied by Pablo López on the piano sang “Piensa,” while other guests including Eugenia Martínez de Irujo, Narcís Rebollo; Alejandro Sanz with Raquel Valdés; Ainhoa Arteta, Rozalén and Marina Carmona, enjoyed the festivities.Among the invitees was Colombian singer Carlos Vives, who had the opportunity to have a 1:1 conversation with Dr.

Welcome to Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we’ll shine a spotlight on key executives and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we speak to Dani de la Torre, co-creator and showrunner of Movistar+’s anti-terrorism thriller drama series La Unidad (The Unit) and director of the recently released feature Live is Life, about local developments, Spain’s emergence as a key European drama hub and his love of nostalgic 1980s movie making.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentMoving waves on Spain’s film-TV scene when it launched in early May, Beta Fiction Spain has unveiled its first project as a producer, “Dolores,” a portrait of Spain’s Dolores Ibarruri, a worldwide icon of the workers’ movement and struggle against fascism.The feature film is inspired by “Pasionaria. La vida inesperada de Dolores Ibárruri,” a question-posing non-fiction book by Spanish historian Diego Díaz Alonso published in 2020.Underscoring Beta Fiction Spain’s ability to attach best-of-class Spanish talent, the screenplay for “Pasionaria” is being penned by two of Spain’s foremost film-TV scribes, Alejandro Hernández, co-writer of Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and Mariano Barroso’s “What the Future Holds,” and Michel Gaztambide, a writer on Julio Medem’s milestone 1992 debut “Cows,” Enrique Urbizu’s best picture Goya winner “No Rest for the Wicked” and Freddy Highmore heist thriller  “The Vault,” the second highest-grossing Spanish movie of 2021.

Emiliano De Pablos Starzplay, Starz’s premium international streaming service, and The Mediapro Studio, one of Europe’s biggest indie film-TV producers, are joining forces again to produce the second season of “Express,” the first Starzplay’s original series made in Spain.Spanish thesps Alejo Sauras (“Estoy vivo”) and “Paradise’s” Laura Laprida are joining the cast of the new season, which is scheduled for a 11-week shoot on location in and around the city of Madrid.Heading the cast of the series for a second season is actress Maggie Civantos (“Vis a Vis,” “Malaka”), who reprises her character, Bárbara, a criminal psychologist who, after becoming the victim of an express kidnapping, works as a negotiator in similar cases to hers at the private company, Zentral Risk. “Express” Season 2 will premiere on Starzplay in Spain and Latin America.

Premiership side St Mirren have pulled the plug on their pursuit of Declan Gallagher and will now turn their focus to another defensive option.

Anna Marie de la Fuente After 13 years on the road with Spain’s iconic singer-songwriter-poet Joaquin Sabina, “The Good Boss” director Fernando León de Aranoa has finally wrapped his documentary, “Sintiendolo Mucho” (roughly translated to “Deeply Felt”).“This film is a rare privilege that, as a filmmaker, I would like to share with the public: to spend some time alone with Joaquín when he is not Sabina,” said León de Aranoa. “13 years ago, I began to shoot with him, to accompany him on his day-to-day activities, on rehearsals, tours, immersed in his own environment… to portray the artist, his best and worst moments, and his personality, so linked to his work, his creativity,” he remarked, adding: “Most importantly, it has been a lot of fun.” León de Aranoa, who also produced the doc, established a deep rapport with Sabina through the years.The Reposado, BTF Media and Sony Music Spain co-production is the first of its kind on Sabina, who is known to be a very private person.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFurther expanding its already robust talent roster in Spain, Latin America and the U.S. Latino market, VIS, Paramount’s international studio, has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Madrid and Los Angeles-based Morena Films to develop and produce films and series for the company’s portfolio.The titles will have a strong focus on Latin America, Spain, and U.S.