SUSPENSE THRILLER ‘BARREN LAND,' FROM ‘MONEY HEIST' DIRECTOR ALBERT PINTó, SNAPPED UP BY FILM FACTORY (EXCLUSIVE)

"Barren Land," from Spain's Albert Pintó, director of Netflix global blockbusters "Money Heist," "Berlin" and "Nowhere," have been snapped up by Spain's Film Factory Entertainment.

From an original idea by producer Alvaro Ariza, "Barren Land" ("Tierra de Nadie") is penned by Fernando Navarro, one of Spain's go-to screenwriters whose credits include Netflix hits "Below Zero" and "Veronica." 

Film Factory will launch world sales on "Barren Land," as it builds a powerful slate of upscale commercial packages. Sony Pictures Entertainment Iberia will release the film in Spain next year.

Now with principal photography underway in Cadiz, southern Spain, the suspense thriller captures the devastation of friendships, lives and the whole province by a rampant drug trade, action also expanding to the Straits of Gibraltar.

"An ode to friendship, focusing on three characters whose paths diverge due to the longstanding situation in the Southern part of Spain," "Barren Land" turns on Mateo "El Gallego," described as heroic, despite himself, Civil Guard; Juan "el Antxale," a fisherman forced into the drug trade by bad luck and unemployment, and Benito "el Yeye," a intelligent bailiff resigned at a job which places him between a rock and a hard place of law enforcers and criminals. 

"All three [are] trapped between the abandonment of the institutions, the violent and unstoppable rise of the narco trade in the province and the dangerous increase of social discontent. Three friends trapped in a powder keg that will test their friendship," the synopsis runs.

The film stars Luis Zahera, haunting as the main villain in Rodrigo Sorogoyen's "The Beasts," Karra Elejalde, who played Unamuno in Alejandro Amenábar's "While at War," and Jesús Carroza, the emotionally fragile cell-mate in Alberto Rodríguez's "Prison 77."   

A thriller, "Barren Land" gains depth from its social edge, Ariza argued. "We've invested four years into this project, exploring themes of friendship, societal issues, and the transformation of a once-thriving community into ‘barren land,'" he said.

"‘Barren Land' is one of the few high-profile Spanish projects with strong commercial elements, exactly what the international market is currently demanding. I am sure it will be very attractive to buyers," said Film Factory head Vicente Canales.

The movie is lead produced by Ariza's Esto También Pasará, a fast building force on Spain's production scene, behind Ron Perlman starrer "The Gentleman," "Ferocious Wolf," a remake of Israeli hit "Big Bad Wolves," and "The Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth," a Fantastic Pavilion Gala last year at Cannes.   

Esto También Pasará produces "Barren Land" with Glow and Mexican production company SDB Films, also a partner on "The Gentleman," with the participation of Prime Video, RTVE, Canal Sur, Mogambo and the support of ICAA.