MADRID -- Universal Pictures Intl. Spain has acquired theatrical rights to Jose Luis Aleman’s Spanish horror pic “La Herencia Valdemar.”
The Euros13.5 million ($20.3 million) project, produced by Madrid-based shingle La Cruzada Ent., is structured as two pics.
The first opens Jan. 22 on 250 prints; the second will be released in the fall.
Aleman makes his feature debut as writer and director on the pics.
Based on the novels of American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, “Valdemar” is set in Victorian England and the present. It starts with the disappearance of a woman after she visits a strange property in an inhospitable place; her boss hires a detective to investigate what happened.
Pics topline Daniele Liotti (“Mad Love”), Oscar Jaenada (“The Limits of Control”), Laia Marull (“Take My Eyes”), Silvia Abascal (“Wolf”) and Spanish horror pic legend Paul Naschy, who died Monday Nov. 30 at the age of 75.
Sony Pictures Home Ent. is in advanced talks to take Spanish DVD rights.
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com