16/06/2014 - The director is currently working on his third feature, a Spanish-US co-production by Apaches Entertainment, Telecinco Cinema and La Trini, with Participant Media and River Road Entertainment

Barcelona-born director Juan Antonio (JA) Bayona, who up until a few weeks ago boasted the credit of being the mastermind behind the biggest box-office smash in the history of Spanish cinema (The Impossible [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Antonio Bayona
film profile], which took €42.3 million in 2012), has revealed certain details about his third feature film, following The Orphanage [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2007) and the aforementioned The Impossible.

It will be called A Monster Calls [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Juan Antonio Bayona
film profile] and is based on the novel of the same name by British author Patrick Ness, who worked on adapting it for the screenplay. Bayona is again working with production outfits Apaches Entertainment, the powerful Spanish cinema arm of the Mediaset group; Telecinco Cinema, which will also provide a highly robust media platform; and La Trini, Bayona’s own production firm. These companies are joined by independent US outfits Participant Media and River Road Entertainment, whose agreement with Focus Features will see the latter handle the film’s distribution in the USA.

A Monster Calls tells the story of Conor, a 13-year-old boy who has had the same nightmare every night since his mother fell ill. One night, Conor hears a voice from the garden that seems to be calling him. When he peeks out of the window, he sees that a huge, mighty, old tree has turned into a monster, who tells him that he heard his call and that he is there to help him. In order to do this, he will tell him three stories, but when he has finished, it will be Conor’s turn to tell his own tale.

Although there are still a good number of loose ends to be tied up before shooting can begin, British actor and actress Liam Neeson and Felicity Jones have been confirmed as being among the cast.

Telecinco Cinema announced its involvement in A Monster Calls at the same time as it revealed its participation in Regression, by Alejandro Amenábar (see news). Ghislain Barrois, CEO of Telecinco Cinema, highlighted that these are “ambitious films with universal stories, like only they [Bayona and Amenábar] know how to tell”.

(Translated from Spanish)