LaZona Photos, the distribution label of Gonzalo Salazar-Simpson’s Madrid-based LaZona group, has acquired Spanish rights to lavish Polish biopic “Chopin, Chopin!” (“Chopin, a Sonata in Paris”), dealt with for worldwide gross sales by Paris’ Playtime.
Michał Kwieciński’s $17.5 million finances biopic of Frédéric Chopin, produced by Poland’s Akson Studio (“Katyń,” “Warsaw 44”), stars Eryk Kulm (“Filip”) because the prodigious pianist-composer, with Lambert Wilson (“The Matrix Resurrections”) as King Louis-Philippe.
The Nineteenth-century-set drama tracks Chopin’s arrival in Paris on the age of 21 and his fast ascent as town’s romantic idol, earlier than sickness refocuses his obsession on composition.
The movie boasts high-end craft expertise together with cinematographer Michał Sobociński (“The New Look”), manufacturing designer Katarzyna Sobańska (“Chilly Conflict”) and author Bartosz Janiszewski (“Wataha”).
Shot largely in France with roughly 80% of the dialogue in French, the characteristic squarely targets upscale audiences and classical-music aficionados whereas courting broader crossover play by way of its sweeping, baroque aesthetic.
Having produced since 2003 Spanish high hits reminiscent of Enrique Urbizu’s thriller “No Relaxation for the Depraved” and Emilio Martínez Lázaro’s comedy “Spanish Affair,” the highest-grossing Spanish movie ever in Spain, in 2023 LaZona broadened its horizons launching a brand new movie distribution operation, LaZona Photos, led from 2024 by former Latido Movies govt Óscar Alonso.
“For us ‘Chopin, Chopin!’ is the primary true European ‘super-production’ on the slate — a press release of intent to continue to grow, step-by-step, but additionally to take bolder swings at movies with wider viewers potential,” Alonso stated at Valladolid’s Seminci, the place LaZona’s co-production “Subsuelo,” by Fernando Franco, world premiered as a part of the competition’s foremost competitors.
Positioning “Chopin, Chopin” as a “rock-star portrait of the Romantic period,” Alonso advances that the Spanish launch, scheduled for subsequent 12 months’s first quarter, will activate partnerships with opera homes, conservatories and music colleges to increase attain past core arthouse circuits.
LaZona Photos has been ramping up since final 12 months with a curated line of arthouse and crossover titles. With “Chopin Chopin,” the corporate has begun early conversations with platforms and broadcasters to enhance a deliberate theatrical rollout.
“Chopin, Chopin” has already scored top-tier competition publicity and is lining up additional key berths, underscoring its positioning as a status occasion title.
“It’s the sort of bold European cinema that doesn’t come alongside yearly,” he stated. “We’re assured it may resonate with classical-music lovers and a a lot wider viewers drawn to grand, emotionally charged storytelling.”
Closing Movie at Seville European Movie Competition
The movie will display screen out of competitors because the closing evening gala title on the upcoming version of the Seville European Movie Competition, which runs Nov. 7-15.
One in every of LaZona’s largest hits to this point as an indie distributor has been “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a Venice Silver Lion and San Sebastian Viewers Award winner.
Co-distributed in Spain with Caramel Movies, Tunisian Kaouther Ben Hania’s movie, one of many 12 months’s most celebrated worldwide titles, additionally screened at Valladolid as a part of the Constellations sidebar.
