France’s TF1 Acquires Alex Pina’s Romantic Thriller “The Pier”

Alex Pina’s latest project is feeling the love…

France’s TF1 has acquired the Spanish television producer’s Movistar + Original The Pier, sold by Beta Film, and produced with Atresmedia Studios.

Alex Pina

Also produced by Pina and Esther Martínez Lobato’s Vancouver Media, The Pier marks the showrunner duo’s follow-up to La Casa de Papel (Money Heist), declared by Netflix to be its most watched non English-language series ever.

Alvaro Morte, the professor inLa Casa de Papel plays the male lead. Capturing a near futuristic Valencia, and the nearby Albufera National Park, an expanse of marshland and rice paddy fields, where time seems to move at another race, Pina has commented, the cinematography looks stunning.

In other ways, this is a departure, a sensual romantic thriller in which an accomplished architect (Verónica Sánchez) is confronted with the alleged suicide of her husband. Investigating on her own, she discovers the secret double-life he had led with another woman (Irene Arcos) and also her own unsuspected new depths and desires.

The main cast, co-director Jesús Colmenar and the producers will be present when The Piercelebrates its red carpet world premiere at Mipcom on Tuesday, October 16, at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes.

“As a leading channel, TF1’s role is to create events and to work with the best talents and partners. The Pierand the work of Alex Pina meet our requirements,” said Fabrice Bailly, head of program and acquisitions, TF1 Group, who added: “After the excellent performances of ‘Good Doctor’ and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ on our channels this year, we are sure that ‘The Pier’ will add to our success.”

Pina and Martínez’s stylish, innovative and morally ambiguous money mint robbery thriller La Casa de Papelwas a huge hit in France. In its take on modern sexual relations, The Pieris likely to maintain their envelope-pushing on traditional morality.

The Pieris a woman’s drama, Martinez has said, where “women behave as women.”