‘The Footballest II,’ a Live Action Family Movie Adapting the Hit Children’s Book Saga, Pounced on by Filmax (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Looking to IP and the resilient market for live action family fare, Filmax has swooped on kids adventure caper “The Footballest II,” the second big-screen adaptation tapping into the children’s book saga created by Spain’s Roberto Santiago which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. “The Footballest and the Mystery of the Pirate Treasure” will be released in Spain by Filmax in the summer of 2025.
First-look images of the family film will be shown at next week’s American Film Market in Las Vegas. To date, the book series has been adapted and published in north of 20 countries, including France, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Greece, The Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Algeria, Iran and Turkey, among others. “The Footballest and the Mystery of the Pirate Treasure” follows up the breakout hit “The Footballest,” adapting Santiago’s story “The Mystery of the Sleeping Referees,” which grossed €3.4 million ($3.8 million) at Spanish cinema theaters, released in 2018 by Paramount Pictures International.
That put it into the Top 10 of biggest Spanish box-office earners of the year. Netflix swooped on the title in March 2020, just before the pandemic hit Spain.
Directed once more by Miguel Angel Lamata (“Our Lovers”), “The Footballest II” responds to the entire book saga concept of delivering madcap adventures of a bunch of tween friends, Pakete and his inseparable buddies at Soto Alto soccer club.
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