‘Nowhere’ Producer Rock & Ruz Partners With ‘ZeroZeroZero’ Creator Leonardo Fasoli, ‘While at War’ Co-Scribe Alejandro Hernández (EXCLUSIVE)
Madrid-based Rock & Ruz – the production company of Netflix’s “Nowhere,” which has just been confirmed by Netflix as its most-viewed Spanish-language movie of all time – has pacted new projects with Italy’s Leonardo Fasoli, a head-writer of “Gomorrah” and creator of “ZeroZeroZero,” and Spain-based Alejandro Hernández, a co-writer on Alejandro Amenábar’s “While at War” and “La Fortuna.”
Targeting the key to high-end fiction success in Europe – its screenwriters – and added to “Nowhere” and an upcoming Spanish-Mexican remake of hit Korean movie “Miracle in Cell No. 7” – the freshly-announced projects mark out Rock & Ruz as a new and significant Spain-based international player.
As international markets – both theatrical and global streamers – are asking for bigger films with identifiable audiences, Rock & Ruz’s bold slate looks like a ready source of titles.
“Our company is focused on producing global strategic projects. No matter if they are in English or Spanish,” Rock & Ruz co-founder and producer Miguel Ruz told Variety. “We are going to produce projects for platforms as well as for theatrical distribution. But it is important to differentiate the nature of the project before structuring distribution,” he added.
Untitled Leonardo Fasoli Project
Fasoli and Ruz are co-creating an untitled war drama-thriller, from an original concept by Ruz, and to be written by Fasoli. The feature film is based on a true story and will see Fasoli, as in “Gomorrah” and “ZeroZeroZero,” deliver a fresher and more character-based take on a world often seen in more formulaic thrillers, based on extensive research.
The project turns on an ex-soldier, a former sniper, who finds a sense of purpose in a war in Europe.
“The difference to most war films is that this conflict is in Europe and so far more accessible when it comes to crossing borders and fighting is more fluid. “If somebody wants to join the war and has some sort of military experience, they can,” said Ruz.
“The Catch”
Hernández – whose credits also include seven titles with Mariano Barroso from 2005’s “Hormigas en La Boca” to acclaimed Movistar Plus+ series “What the Future Holds” and “Los Farad,” released last week on Prime Video – is already writing “The Catch.”
Billed as a high concept sea-set drama-thriller, its plot is under wraps. The movie plays off a perfect nightmare for many who have sailed, said Ruz.
Like “The Squid Game,” “The Catch” targets the bored ultra rich seeking real-life entertainment, he added, calling the title “asphyxiating” with “large psychological terror.” “The Catch” is likely to shoot in the Mediterranean. The film will be English-language.
“Miracle in Cell No. 7”
Set to shoot in 2024, “Miracle in Cell No. 7” will be remade in Spanish, but in Mexico, produced with Madrid-based N&L Films, set up by Juan Mayne when he left Netflix, and Mexico and Madrid-based The 42 Film, headed by Alberto Müffelmann (“Museum,” “I’m No Longer Here”).
The remake deal was signed with Contents Panda.
A melodrama, “Miracle” turns on a man with a cognitive disorder who is falsely accused of murder and sent to prison. However, his daughter vows to prove his innocence and reunite with her father one day.
The 2013 original grossed $80 million in Korea and has seen hit remakes in Turkey, the Philippines, Indonesia and in Kannada for the Indian market.
Philosophy
“As a production company, Jordi Roca and I will make domestic titles in Spanish, and indeed have one ready for development, but we are also going to produce international productions from Spain, like English-language productions,” said Ruz.
Released on Netflix on Sept. 29 and starring Anna Castillo (“The Olive Tree,” “A Perfect Story”), survival thriller “Nowhere” also ranks as the most viewed non-English language title – film or series – of 2023, with 83.7 million views, and Netflix’s second most-watched and now most-viewed non-English language movie of all time, behind “Troll.”
Ruz has told Variety that “Nowhere’s” universal success stemmed from its focus on one person’s primal instincts to survive. “If you construct [a title] well enough emotionally, then it will travel. It’s in the DNA of our company to make globally appealing shows,” he added.
This large international bent reflects Ruz’s own origins. Mallorca-born, he nevertheless studied A level exams at Saint Albans, one of England’s oldest public schools, took a degree in engineering, he worked for seven years in Germany before returning to England to study film at Southampton where he produced “Forest of the Damned,” the graduate feature of Brit Johannes Roberts (“47 Meters Down,” “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City”).
Returning to Spain, Ruz worked a U.K.-Spain axis, joining Babieka Films, producing three episodes of “Black Mirror” and two parts of Idris Elba starrer “Turn Up Charlie,” which he produced in his native Mallorca. The first feature he produced out of Spain was Netflix hit “The Paramedic,” starring Mario Casas.
Rock & Ruz has come from “Nowhere,” the smash hit proving the outfit’s first title and industry calling card after Ruz set up the company in 2020 with producer partner Roca, who executive produced “Nowhere.”
“As a production company, we are going to be operating in Spain, filming in Spain, but with all the international talent, most especially European talent, concentrating on mainstream and the mainstream formula and formats, but with a European touch even,” Ruz told Variety. “What we are doing is basically importing what we see outside and why not make it in Spain?”
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