‘The Future of Spanish Cinema Is Not About Making More Films’: Atresmedia Unveils Broad Slate

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain — Spanish theatrical audiences are concentrating around fewer films, with nearly 75% of admissions this year going to just 10 local titles despite more than 275 Spanish films being released, according to Atresmedia Cine general manager Jaime Ortiz de Artiñano.

“Audiences have become far more selective,” Ortiz de Artiñano told Variety ahead of Atresmedia’s San Sebastián presentation. “They are willing to leave home for films that feel like true cultural events.”

Atresmedia Cine, which Ortiz de Artiñano says has led the Spanish box office for the past seven years with market shares ranging from around 30% to more than 50%, sees that concentration as reshaping what theatrical success requires.

“For me, this leads to a very clear conclusion: the future of Spanish cinema is not about making more films, but about making films that more people want to see,” he said.

That thinking was on display at the Hotel Maria Cristina’s Salon Elcano in San Sebastián, where Atresmedia presented a slate spanning the return of Adriana Ugarte in “Sira,” thriller “Trazos ocultos” and Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi’s “La Bola Negra,” where it has partnered on the film, taking free-to-air TV rights.

The event was Atresmedia Cine’s traditional annual industry presentation during the festival, moderated by journalist David Martos, with a host of actors among them Goya winners Eduard Fernández, and Javier Gutiérrez, both in good sprits, and filmmakers Roberto Bueso, Aritz Moreno, Álvaro Fernández Armero and Daniel Calparsoro with their projects.

“Sira” brings Adriana Ugarte (“Julieta”) back with sequel to “The Time In Between Seams” as Sira Quiroga, moving the period drama into the aftermath of World War II and across Jerusalem, London, Madrid and Tangier. Produced by Buendía Estudios Bizkaia with the participation of Atresmedia and Netflix, it will premiere first on Atresplayer before moving to Antena 3 primetime, an increasingly important windowing model for the broadcaster.

“Trazos ocultos,” starring Toni Acosta and Rodolfo Sancho, forms the other major series play presented at the festival, underscoring Atresmedia’s continuing bet on broad appeal premium fiction that can travel between subscription and linear television.

On the film side, Spain’s Oscar submission “La Bola Negra” and TIFF People’s Choice Award winner, points to a more international model. The Lorca-inspired drama, directed by Calvo and Ambrossi and starring Guitarricadelafuente, Penélope Cruz, Miguel Bernardeau, Lola Dueñas and Glenn Close, is a Movistar Plus original produced with Suma Content Films, El Deseo and Le Pacte, with the participation of Atresmedia.

For Ortiz de Artiñano, the film’s festival trajectory has gone beyond initial expectations. “In more than twenty-five years working in this industry, I have rarely seen a project gather this level of momentum,” he said, pointing to Cannes, Toronto and San Sebastián.

That international reach sits alongside a more hard-headed reading of the Spanish theatrical market. Atresmedia says its films account for more than 50% of Spanish-film box office in 2026, with “Torrente Presidente” alone representing almost 40%.

That logic also shapes financing. Ortiz de Artiñano argues that broadcasters, platforms, distributors and independent producers increasingly need to combine forces around ambitious projects.

“No single player can consistently finance ambitious films on its own anymore,” he said.

Atresmedia’s expanding 2027 slate, from “La Roja” and “El Confidente” to “Caza Mayor,” suggests the company sees its role increasingly as both producer and industrial catalyst: assembling partners, reducing risk and helping Spanish projects reach the scale needed to compete for attention at home and abroad.

Below we profile the upcoming projects:

“La Bola Negra” dir. Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi (Movistar Plus+, Suma Content Films, El Deseo, Le Pacte)
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi direct a multi-generational drama tracing the interconnected lives of three men across three different periods. Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau and Carlos González lead a cast that also includes Penélope Cruz, Lola Dueñas and Glenn Close. Written by Calvo, Ambrossi and Alberto Conejero, the film explores sexuality, desire, pain and inheritance through a three-part story linked to one of Federico García Lorca’s final unfinished works as well as the subject of his near last love poems.

“The Blind Ants“ (“Las Ciegas Hormigas,” “Inurri Itsuak”) dir. Igor Legarreta (Lamia Producciones, Lamia Films, Lapona Zinema, Lazona Producciones, Bruja del Norte AIE, Buendía Estudios Bizkaia, Sideral Cinema, Caviar Antwerp B.V.)
Igor Legarreta directs and co-writes this 1935-set Basque drama starring Urko Olazábal, Itziar Ituño, Josean Bengoetxea, Miren Gaztañaga and Carlos Santos. When a violent storm grounds an English ship carrying tons of coal off Algorta, Sabas Jauregui sees a chance to save his family from winter and drags his children into the dangerous salvage effort despite his wife Josefa’s fears. The struggle to protect the recovered “black gold” becomes a test of survival, desperation and family loyalty.

“Karateka” dir. Aritz Moreno (Atresmedia Cine, Sr.&Sra., Karateka A.I.E., Wrong Men, Apaches Entertainment, Colosé Producciones)
Aritz Moreno (“Advantages of Travelling by Train”) directs an inspirational sports drama chronicling Sandra Sánchez’s journey from Talavera de la Reina to Olympic gold in Tokyo at 39. Andrea Ros stars opposite Patrick Criado as Sánchez’s coach and partner Jesús del Moral. Shot across Spain and Japan, the film combines elite competition, romance and resilience in the true story of one of karate’s defining champions.

“El mal padre” dir. Roberto Bueso (MOD Producciones, MOD Pictures, Misent Producciones, Atresmedia Cine)
Eduard Fernández leads Roberto Bueso’s family drama as a celebrated writer who gathers his estranged children before Christmas at the coastal holiday home where they spent their childhood summers. Adam Jezierski, Francesco Carril, Meritxell Calvo and Cristina Plazas co-star. Selected for San Sebastián’s Official Selection, the film explores abandonment, resentment and impending parenthood as one fractured family is forced to confront the past.

“The Confidant” (“El confidente”) dir. Daniel Calparsoro (Bowfinger International Pictures, Esto También Pasará, El Confidente Films AIE, Lionceau Films)
Daniel Calparsoro directs a fact-inspired thriller starring Javier Gutiérrez and Miguel Herrán as a veteran policeman and his young informant, two men divided by principle but bound by loyalty and loneliness. Scripted by Fernando Navarro, the Spain-France production unfolds against a dangerous police operation and will world premiere in Seminci’s Official Selection, screening out of competition.

“La Roja” dir. Marcel Barrena (Atresmedia Cine, Beta Fiction Spain, Vilaüt Films, La Roja AIE)
Marcel Barrena directs and co-writes this fact-inspired underdog sports drama starring Paco León as a coach attempting to turn Spain into a competitive cricket nation. Carolina Yuste co-stars alongside Atul Vijayakumar and an ensemble including several debutants. Shot in Barcelona, the film uses cricket to explore integration, cultural difference, belonging and an evolving idea of what representing Spain can mean.

“Big Game Hunt” (“Caza mayor”) dir. Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (Movistar Plus+, La Película del Tigre A.I.E., Estela Films, Tenampa Films, Cut One, Pólvora Films, Tinnitus)
Daniel Sánchez Arévalo directs a rural thriller with black-comedy overtones starring Antonio de la Torre. He plays an Extremaduran pig herder who returns home covered in blood claiming to have seen a tiger, setting off an increasingly strange reckoning in Fregenal de la Sierra. Written by María Ballesteros and José Antonio de Pascual, the film turns an impossible sighting into a test of truth and desperation.

“Caer de Pie” dir. Salvador Calvo (Atresmedia Cine, Fonte Films, LAZONA, Cómo Volé AIE)
Salvador Calvo directs a fact-based drama starring Marina Salas as Ana, a 30-year-old woman admitted to psychiatric care after reaching breaking point and attempting suicide. Written by Alejandro Hernández, the film follows her 37-day hospitalization and gradual confrontation with vulnerability and recovery. Daniel Ibañez, Carmen Ruiz, Pedro Casablanc and Alicia Borrachero feature in the ensemble.

“The Professor” (“El profesor”) dir. Daniel Castro (Atresmedia Cine, Gonita, 4 Cats Pictures, Una Nueva Comedia AIE, Vaya Films)
Javier Gutiérrez headlines Daniel Castro’s Spain-Colombia production as a lonely university professor who falls for a Colombian model 20 years his junior despite her refusal to appear on video. Written and directed by Castro, the digital-age relationship story is in post-production, with Film Factory Entertainment handling international sales and A Contracorriente Films distributing in Spain.

“Todo por la Casa” dir. María Togores (Atresmedia Cine, Beta Fiction Spain, Chef Sin Desperdicio 2022 AIE)
Spain’s housing squeeze fuels María Togores’ romantic comedy starring Silvia Alonso and Alejandro García as desperate Madrid renters who pose as a conventional couple to secure an apartment from traditional-minded landlords. Written by Olatz Arroyo, the film turns an acute contemporary housing problem into the engine for a high-concept relationship comedy, with the deception complicated by the landlords living directly opposite.

“Matar a Ramón” dir. Álvaro Fernández Armero (Atresmedia Cine, Un Pueblo Tranquilo AIE, La Terraza Films, True Crime Factory, Ikiru Films)
Álvaro Fernández Armero directs a rural mystery-comedy about Ramón, a La Mancha contractor who survives a bizarre hit-and-run only to suffer a string of increasingly suspicious accidents. The ensemble includes Óscar de la Fuente, Carla Díaz, Yaël Belicha, Israel Elejalde and José Mota. Written by Daniel Castro and Diego Soto, the film pairs an attention-seeking Guardia Civil veteran with a socially awkward rookie investigating what may be their first “serial victim.”

“Entre olas” dir. Chloé Wallace (Atresmedia Cine, Buendía Estudios Canarias, La Pepa Films, Basque Films, Xoelius and Veguchini, Ocean Love Story AIE)
Chloé Wallace directs a romantic coming-of-age story starring Carla Tous, Nuno Gallego and Jan Buxaderas. Shot in Tenerife, the film centers on a summer love triangle in which surfing and environmental awareness become increasingly central. As an ecological threat emerges, Ali’s choice between stability and freedom expands into a larger reckoning with identity, belonging and the island’s future.

“A morte nos teus ollos” dir. Guillermo de Oliveira (Atresmedia Cine, Sideral, Sétima)
Guillermo de Oliveira makes his fiction feature debut with a fact-inspired Galician thriller starring Pepe Lorente and Iván Marcos. Developed through the Spanish Film Academy’s Residencies program and shot around Vigo and Pontevedra, the 1990s-set story follows two compromised policemen whose robbery scheme spirals into a tale of corruption, family, violence, greed, guilt and power.

“La Dona Invisible” dir. Cristina Fernández Pintado (Atresmedia Cine, The Fly Hunter, La Terraza Films, Sucedió en Valverde AIE)
Cristina Fernández Pintado directs a comic mystery starring Mona Martínez as Mihaela, a Romanian cleaner nearing retirement who discovers a dead civil servant in the government offices where she works. When police dismiss the death as accidental, the crime-fiction obsessive launches her own investigation alongside an eccentric young intern, probing both a possible murder and the opaque, rule-bound world of public bureaucracy.