The premiere of 'Eight Catalan surnames' arrives, a sequel to one of the highest-grossing films in the history of Spanish cinema, for that reason, and thinking that it surely has a large box office, it is a good time to remember which are the ten highest-grossing Spanish films so far.
Far from what they have made us think, 'Eight Basque surnames' is not the Spanish film that has raised the most money, nor that the most viewers have seen, what it is is both within our borders, but other films that have performed much better abroad are those that occupy the first positions in this list, although the film by Emilio Martínez-Lázaro starring Clara Lago, Dani Rovira, Karra Elejalde and Carmen Machi also appears in it.
These are lThe ten Spanish films that have collected the most worldwide, ten highly successful films that have not only made a great box office, but have also received many awards, precisely this is the reason that they performed so well on the billboard.
10. 'Talk to her'
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2002
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 51
Pedro Almodóvar is probably the most famous active Spanish director not only in Spain, but abroad, that is why it is not surprising that several of his films are among the highest grossing in the history of Spanish cinema. In 2002 it became the third highest grossing film only surpassed by a film by Pedro Almodóvar himself and for which to this day it continues to be the one at the top of the list. More than 50 million dollars raised, the most important part of this collection achieved outside the borders of our country. And it is that the film was one of the most important of the year, it achieved innumerable awards and nominations, including the Oscar for best original screenplay and the nomination for best direction at these same awards.
'Talk to her' tells the story of Benigno and Marco, two men who one day met at a Pina Bausch show at Café Müller, Marco burst into tears excited by what he was seeing and Benigno would have liked to share with him that his feeling was the same. Now they are back in the private clinic "El Bosque" where Benigno works as a nurse and it is that Marco's girlfriend, a mature writer, has been caught fighting and is in a coma. Benigno takes care of both the bullfighter and a ballet student also in a coma, while forging a new friendship with Marco. The lives of these four characters flow in a mixture of past, present and future that will lead them to an unsuspected destiny.
9. 'The Adventures of Tadeo Jones'
Director: Henry Cat
Year: 2012
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 60,8
Now three years ago, Enrique Gato's debut in the feature film became the second highest grossing animated film in the history of Spanish cinema, a few years before another film set the bar very high by succeeding especially outside of Spain. The data from 'The Adventures of Tadeo Jones weren't bad either, 60 over million, the vast majority achieved outside of our country. In 2016 we will receive a second installment that promises a lot, especially after winning the first up to three Goya Awards, best new direction, best adapted screenplay and of course best animated film.
'The Adventures of Tadeo Jones tells the story of Tadeo, a bricklayer who since childhood has dreamed of becoming a great archaeologist. Fate enables Tadeo to fulfill his dream when he is mistakenly sent on an expedition in Peru by mistaking him for a famous archaeologist. Accompanied by his faithful dog Jeff, an intrepid teacher, a hustler and a mute parrot, the bricklayer tries to save the mythical lost city of the Incas from the evil plans of a treasure hunting company.
8. 'All about my mother'
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 1999
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 67,9
In 1999 Pedro Almodóvar's film 'Todo sobre mi madre' became the highest grossing Spanish film. A Pedro Almodóvar who was consecrated in the United States with this film that won the third Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film for Spanish cinema. The film was also made with him Golden Globe for the best foreign film, the ecumenical jury and best director award at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as other important awards. For 2 years it was the highest grossing film in the history of Spanish cinema, reaching almost 70 million dollars worldwide, something that seemed difficult to overcome but in 2001 a film arrived that tripled its collection.
'Todo sobre mi madre' tells the story of Manuela, a single mother from Madrid who watches her son die on the day he turned 17 when she runs to get the autograph of her favorite actress, Huma Rojo. Destroyed by what happened, Manuela decides to travel to Barcelona to find the boy's father.
7. 'Eight Basque surnames'
Director: Emilio Martinez-Lazaro
Year: 2014
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 77,5
Last year came 'Eight Basque surnames', the seventh highest grossing Spanish film in terms of gross sales worldwide and the Spanish film that has raised the most money in Spain so far. A phenomenon that in a very short timee could see surpassed by his second installment 'Eight Catalan surnames' which opens this week and aims to be the movie of the year, at least as far as the box office is concerned. The protagonists Dani Rovira, Clara Lago, Karra Elejalde and Carmen Machi are joined by other Spanish stars such as Berto Romero or Rosa María Sardà.
'Eight Basque surnames' tells the story of Rafa, a young Andalusian who has never left his native Seville in his life, but this changes when he meets Amaia, a Basque girl. Determined to conquer it, he moved to a town in the Basque Country where he pretended to be, or at least tried, to be Basque. Something that does not seem to convince Amaia's father, a lifelong Basque who is looking for a young man with eight Basque surnames for his daughter or, in other words, that he is at least the fourth generation on earth, something which obviously Rafa is not.
6. 'The orphanage'
Director: John Anthony Bayonne
Year: 2007
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 78,6
Years before he became known internationally with the brutal success of 'The impossible', Juan Antonio Bayona showed his talent with the genre film 'El orfanato'. A brutal success of this film, even more so thinking that we are talking about a horror film, a type of film that costs them to raise large amounts of money at the box office. Juan Antonio Rayona demonstrated that we can also have successful horror films in our country, something that another famous native director such as Alejandro Amenábar hinted at before.
The film tells the story of Laura, who settles with her family in the orphanage where she grew up as a child with the intention of opening a residence for disabled children there. Once there, her son gets carried away by the fantasy of the place, an old mansion, and the child's games increasingly disturb a Laura who begins to think that there is a strange presence in the house.
5. 'Pan's Labyrinth'
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Year: 2006
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 83,3
The great success of this film made it one of the highest-grossing Spanish films in history. 'Pan's Labyrinth' was present at the 2006 Oscars gala with up to six nominations, finally it won three awards being one of the great winners of that edition of the Hollywood Academy Awards, won best photography, best art direction and best makeup. As a curiosity to say that it is the only film of the ten that occupy this list that is not directed by a Spanish director, since it was shot by the Mexican Guillermo del Toro.
Set in 1944 in the middle of the war, 'El laberinto del Pan' tells the story of Ofelia, Carmen's daughter, a woman about to give birth and who has just married Vidal, a cruel captain of the franchise army. This new family has just moved to a small town, so that Vidal destroys the last members of the resistance that are hiding in the nearby mountains. Ofelia one day discovers the ruins of an old labyrinth. I already read she meets a faun, who discovers that she is actually the princess of a fantasy world and that her real family is waiting for her.
4. 'Back'
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Year: 2006
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 85,6
How could it be otherwise, Pedro Almodóvar is the director who has shot the most film on this list. We have yet to talk about a third film by him, 'Volver'. Probably the last great work of the La Mancha director to date. Almost a decade has passed since this great success that once again brought Pedro Almodóvar to the Oscars, this time with the best actress nomination by its protagonist Penelope Cruz. At the 2006 Goya Awards, she was the great winner, winning up to five awards from fourteen nominations, including best film, best director, and best actress. More than 80 million dollars They are the ones that made this movie all over the world.
'Volver' tells the story of Raimunda, a woman from La Mancha who lives in Madrid with her husband, an unemployed worker and their teenage daughter. Like her sister Sole, who makes her living as a hairdresser, Raimunda misses her mother who died in a fire. One fine day he shows up and goes to visit his sister, Sole, Raimunda and Agustina, a neighbor of the town.
3. 'Planet 51'
Director: Jorge Blanco
Year: 2009
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 105,6
Surprisingly, the third highest grossing Spanish film is an animated film, Jorge Blanco's film 'Planet 51', the film worked tremendously well in 2009 and managed to achieve 100 over million. The film got the Goya for the best animated film, how could it be otherwise, but it was also nominated for the best song award. It also chose the award for best animated film at the prestigious European Film Awards that year, the European Film Awards.
'Planet 51' gives a twist to the history of alien invasions and is that the film tells the story of a middle class family, with the only peculiarity that they are not terrestrial but aliens. But for them the alien is Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker, an American astronaut who has just landed on Planet 51, thinking that he is the first living being to arrive at the place. Curiously, the place he has reached is a replica of North America from the 50s and the inhabitants of the planet, some of the most endearing green beings, live in fear of a possible alien invasion. Now Chuck, accompanied by the robot Rover and his new friend Lem, must try not to be discovered so as not to end his days as a permanent piece of the Space Museum of Alien Invaders on Planet 51.
2. 'The impossible'
Director: John Anthony Bayonne
Year: 2012
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 180,3
Although it is not the highest-grossing film in the history of Spanish cinema, talking about 'The impossible' are major words when it comes to the box office. The film by Juan Antonio Bayona, second by this director that we mentioned in this Top Ten, barely three years ago raised a whopping 180 million dollars. The film was also present at the Oscars gala of that year, something that always helps to considerably inflate the collection especially abroad, Naomi Watts got the nomination for best actress, a prize for which she also chose in the Golden Globes. At the Goya awards she was one of the great winners, receiving five awards from fourteen nominations, including best director, but without taking the best picture.
Based on a true story that occurred in 2004 when a Tsunami struck Southeast Asia, 'The Impossible' tells how Maria, Henry and their three children happily spend the Christmas holidays in a hotel on the beach in Thailand when suddenly a Tsunami devastates with everything. On the one hand Henry appears with two of his children and on the other Maria with the third, they must be safe at all costs but they must also find their loved ones, so each group begins a journey to find their loved ones. Along the way they meet many obstacles and especially desperate people who need help in the midst of chaos.
1. 'The others'
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Year: 2001
Worldwide Collection (in millions of dollars): 209,9
And finally we come to the Spanish film that has raised the most money in history, it is Alejandro Amenábar's film 'Los otros', the only Spanish-produced film that has managed to exceed the not inconsiderable 200 million. The film was present at the Golden Globes gala with the candidacy of Nicole Kidman in the category of best actress in a drama film and also in that of the Bafta with nominations for its script and again for the lead in best actress. but where it really triumphed, as is evident, it was at the Goya Awards where it won up to eight awards, including best film and best director. At the moment, no film has managed to surpass the astonishing world grossing that 'The Others' obtained, despite having already passed more than a decade. Practically impossible for 'Eight Catalan surnames' to do so, since to exceed 200 million dollars the film has to work very well outside our borders and it does not seem that it will be the case. It seems that we will have to wait for the premieres of the directors mentioned in this list, who knows if Pedro Almodóvar's next film 'Silencio' reaches these figures.
Set on the Island of Jersey in 1945, just at the end of World War II, 'The Others' tells the story of Grace who lives in an isolated Victorian mansion awaiting the return of her husband who is in the war conflict. While he waits, he dedicates himself to educating his children under rigid religious norms, children who suffer a strange disease that does not allow them to be touched by the sunlight. Three new servants join the family life and have to learn a basic rule in the mansion, the rooms must always be in semi-darkness due to the children's illness, so a door cannot be opened until the previous one is completely closed. But something happens, something that is not under Grace's control and that defies the established order.