Derbez Signs Exclusive First-Look Deal with Pantelion Films

Eugenio Derbez is ready to make more crossover films… And, he now has the support to produce them.

The 53-year-old Mexican writer, director and star of the hit Spanish-language comedy Instructions Not Included, has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Lionsgate/Grupo Televisa’s Pantelion Films.

Eugenio Derbez

The pact keeps Derbez in business with the label that released his record-setting Spanish-language film last year.

The deal was made via Derbez’s newly launched 3PasStudios, a partnership with former Pantelion president of production Benjamin Odell. 3Pas will focus on Spanish- and English-language films targeted at Latino and crossover audiences in the U.S.

Instructions Not Included became the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. when it opened last year. Pantelion also is behind biopic Cantinflas which has pulled in $3.6M since it opened last weekend in 382 theaters.

Derbez’s film credits include Under The Same Moon, also among the highest-grossing Spanish language films released in the U.S.

He and Odell first worked together on Sangre de Mi Sangre in 2006, starring Derbez, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and for which Odell was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Odell also produced Pantelion’s 2012 release Girl In Progress, starring Eva Mendes, Cierra Ramirez, Patricia Arquette and Derbez, and he is producing Pantelion’s upcoming drama Spare Parts, starring Marisa Tomei, Jamie Lee Curtis and George Lopez, scheduled for release on January 16, 2015.

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