Buenos Aires-based FilmSharks has secured the world sales and remake rights to 2000 classic “Nine Queens” (“Nueve Reinas”), newly remastered into 4K Ultra HD.
Hailed by Variety as “a seductively structured and superbly acted suspenser that breathtakingly piles swindle upon scam without giving away the game until the very end,” it was written and directed by the late Fabian Bielinsky and became the biggest box office hit in his native Argentina in at least 10 years.
Bielinsky’s debut feature spawned two remakes: Warner Bros.’ ”Criminals” with John C. Reilly and Diego Luna, and India’s “Bluffmaster,” starring Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra.
It stars Argentina’s everyman star Ricardo Darin (“Argentina 1985,” “Wild Tales”) opposite Gastón Pauls (“Blessed by Fire”), who play a pair of scam artists in a sharp, twisted tale of intrigue where one is never sure who’s tricking whom. Juan (played by Pauls) is a young rookie while Marcos (Darin) is seasoned in the art of swindling. One day they are given a chance to get rich quick but have less than 24 hours to pull off the perfect con.
“Nine Queens” was sold out worldwide, with Disney acquiring it for Latin America, Sony Pictures Classics for North America and Lionsgate for the rest of the world.
When these rights lapsed, with the exception of Disney’s, which co-owns the film’s production company, Patagonik, FilmSharks pounced on them, including the format rights for a Spanish-language TV series spin-off of which it is in advanced talks with a major player.
“We feel it’s the right moment for the re-release of the restored 4K version as there is a huge appetite for cinema classics,” said FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud, adding: “We have amazing classics in our catalog of the caliber of ‘Nine Queens,’ such as ‘The Aura,’ also by Bielinsky, and dramedy “Son of the Bride” by Oscar winner Juan Jose Campanella, among other gems.” Rud will be attending the American Film Market in Santa Monica, which runs Oct. 31 to Nov. 5.
Among the latest releases in FilmSharks diverse catalog are: “A Singular Crime” (“Un crimen Argentino”) by Lucas Combina; Spanish-Argentine-Uruguayan co-production “Lobo Feroz” by Gustavo Hernández, the Spanish-language remake of Israeli revenge thriller “Big Bad Wolves,” and stop motion animation pic “My Grandfather’s Demons.”
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