Munich – Red Arrow International has licensed the rights to its hit crime series “Falco”, based on the award-winning scripted format “The Last Cop”, to Latin American production powerhouse Dynamo (Narcos), and Spiral International, for a new Hispanic version.
The series will be show-run and directed by acclaimed Mexican filmmaker, director and screenwriter Ernesto Contreras (Blue Eyelids, I Dream in Another Language, The Obscure Spring). “Falco” is currently in pre-production and is set to go into production in Mexico City at the end of November 2017. The 15 x 60’ series will launch with a feature length pilot. News on Latin America channel sales and casting to follow.
In “Falco”, the year is 1994 and Detective Alex Falco has it all, a loving wife, a newborn daughter and his dream job. But one day out in the field, he is shot in the head and ends up in a coma. Falco opens his eyes again in 2018 to a changed world, where everything he once knew is no longer as it was.
Henrik Pabst, Red Arrow International, said: “‘Falco’ is a powerful and poignant story about a detective’s determination to hunt down his assailant, find his family, and get his life back on track. Ernesto Contreras is a master filmmaker and we could not be more thrilled to be working with Dynamo and Spiral International to see ‘Falco’ brought to life in Spanish.”
Diego Ramírez Schrempp, Partner at Dynamo, said: “We are very happy to be partnering with Red Arrow International and Spiral to bring this great internationally acclaimed format to Latin American audiences. When adapting the scripts we were careful in keeping the unique strength of the original series, while adding a rich Latin American context and texture to the story and characters. I have no doubt that ‘Falco’ will be another powerful Dynamo product, very much in line with our international premium content strategy.”
Ernesto Contreras, Director and Showrunner, said: “‘Falco’ will be an exciting cinematic experience across 15 episodes, where we will establish an expressive and stylized language, including the nostalgic element of the nineties (when Falco practically ceases to exist), and where the primary objective will be to create a special visual, audible, and emotional universe, to tell our story.”
Red Arrow International will distribute the Latin American production of ‘Falco’ worldwide.This high-octane and action-packed crime procedural is based on the hit German series “The Last Cop” (“Der Letzte Bulle”) – SAT.1’s most successful crime series ever.
Red Arrow International has sold the scripted format around the world, with successful remake adaptations including 5 seasons of French version “Falco” on TF1 in France; a record-breaking production for Channel 5 Russia; two seasons and a theatrical movie version in Japan for Hulu and Nippon TV; and productions in the Czech Republic and Estonia.
“The Last Cop” also won Best Scripted Format at the 2017 International Format Awards at MIPTV in Cannes.
Ernesto Contreras is the filmmaker behind I Dream in Another Language, the winner of the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and also recently directed El Chapo for Netflix and Story House. Contreras’ first feature, Blue Eyelids, was nominated for the Caméra d’Or at the 60th Cannes Film Festival. Contreras has a total of 19 Festival Wins, 9 Nominations, and is represented by Valor Entertainment and The Paradigm Agency.
