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PRODUCTION Spain

[Rec] prequel underway in Barcelona

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Four years ago, Filmax launched a little horror film helmed by two directors who up to then had only co-directed OT: The Film, about the Operation Triumph phenomenon. But [Rec] [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
interview: Julio Fernández
film profile
]
was no ordinary horror flick, thanks above all to the impressive aesthetic effects created by directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza.

Boosted perhaps by the box office success of another 2007 genre film, The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, this “little” horror film attracted almost 1.5m viewers, grossed over €8m and was distributed worldwide.

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A second instalment followed, [REC]2 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, which although less successful (860,000 viewers and €5.25m) still performed well above average for a Spanish production and was widely distributed abroad. Afterwards, the company headed by Julio Fernández announced that the saga would close with two new films: the prequel [REC]3 Genesis (solo-directed by Plaza) and an epilogue [REC]3 Apocalipsis (directed by Balagueró).

The first to enter production was [REC]3 Genesis, which started shooting in Barcelona last Monday in the usual secrecy that surrounds the saga. Co-written by Plaza and Luis Berdejo, the plot is being kept under wraps; all we know is that “it will retain the essence of the first instalment” and will star Leticia Dolera and Diego Martín.

The saga still has enormous international appeal: Filmax International has already sold the film to about 20 territories, including European countries like France, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as the US and Japan.

According to Spanish daily Expansión, when it came to putting the production together, Filmax chose to set up an Economic Interest Group (EIG) called Rec Génesis, made up of its subsidiaries Produccions A Fonsagrada and Castelao Pictures, the only ones to be spared by creditors last July. Faced with estimated debts of €170m, the company has had to focus entirely on production, drastically cutting back its other branches of activity.

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