Luis Tosar Stars in International Trailer for Spanish Amnesia Dramedy ‘Samana Sunrise’: Scooped by FilmSharks (EXCLUSIVE)

Global production, sales and distribution outfit Filmsharks has picked up international sales rights to the Spanish dramedy “Samana Sunrise,” starring box office mega-draw Luis Tosar (“Cell 211,” “Sleep Tight”).

FilmSharks wooed exhibitors at last week’s Iberseries & Platino Industria in Madrid and will now take it to RioMarket, the AFM and Film Baazar. Universal Pictures will release the film in Spain on Nov. 8, with Movistar Plus+ taking second window pay TV and SVOD rights.

Directed by Rafa Cortés (“Yo”) and based on a play by Jordi Galcerán, the comedy stars Spanish actors Tosar, Luisa Mayol, Luis Zahera and Bárbara Santa-Cruz alongside international performers including Charles Dance (“Game of Thrones,” “Gosford Park”) and Alfredo Castro (“The Club,” “Tony Manero”).

In the film, two couples head off on a Caribbean vacation to celebrate their parallel 20-year anniversaries. As the friends reconnect over perhaps too many drinks, old truths come out that their pairings were almost very different on the night the four of them first met.

The initial confessions are laughed off since, in the two decades since, initial crushes have faded away. Things take a turn when one of the protagonists receives a rough knock on the head, reverting her memory to that first night and her initial feelings towards her best friend’s long-time husband and erasing the affection she has for her own husband.

The Spanish production was shot in the Dominican Republic and chronologically to encourage the actors to improvise with their surroundings and any surprises that arose. It also gives the film a dynamic realism that balls back to the story’s theater roots.

Filmsharks CEO and founder Guide Rud told Variety: “‘Samana Sunrise’ is a high-concept film with several layers and is rich in flavors like comedy, romance, drama, thriller and ‘reality shifting.’ We feel the film can easily become a local hit with Universal, but it can also travel internationally, relying on its own storyline power and top-tier Spanish cast. Also, we foresee major companies chasing the remake rights.”

The film is a Spanish-Dominican co-production between Ron Vino y Miel AIE, A Name Like This, Materia Cinema, Quexito Films and Federation.