Just three weeks after Arte France announced its involvement in the original series Movistar Plus+ production titled “Killing a Bear,” which was developed by the creative siblings Jorge and Alberto Sánchez-Cabezudo (“Crematorium,” “The Zone”), Movistar Plus+ International has ramped up its efforts to attract buyers by showcasing its latest offerings, including titles like “La Mesías,” “The New Years,” “Querer,” and “Marbella.”
This announcement coincided with the opening day of trading at Madrid’s Iberseries & Platino Industria, marking a significant moment in the venture’s international sales strategy.
Overall, Movistar Plus+ International, which represents the largest Spanish pay TV/SVOD operator, has launched 35 licensing agreements, many of which are part of co-production ventures.
Arte France
In a series of impressive agreements—some publicly acknowledged and others not—Arte France is teaming up to co-produce “Killing a Bear,” a murder mystery series rooted in real-life events that began with the discovery of Cachou, a brown bear, dead in a ravine in the picturesque Aran Valley of the Pyrenees in 2020. This tragic discovery triggered Spain’s first criminal investigation into the death of a wild animal, potentially marking a first for Europe as well.
“Killing a Bear” aims to delve into the various conflicting perspectives surrounding the incident, tackling issues of identity, environmentalism, and the inherent violence that can accompany coexistence, as described by the Sánchez-Cabezudo brothers during the show’s production kickoff in mid-September.
Remarkably, “Killing a Bear” will be the fourth collaborative project between Movistar Plus+ and Arte France, following Pepe Coira’s gritty Canary Islands crime drama “Hierro” (2019), Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s romantic drama “The New Years” (2024)—which made waves at the Venice Film Festival alongside Alfonso Cuarón’s “Disclaimer”—and Thomas Vinterberg’s “Families Like Ours,” which was distributed by StudioCanal.
This past March, during Series Mania’s major announcements, Movistar Plus+ and Arte France revealed their co-production, “The Anatomy of a Moment.” This miniseries envisioned by Alberto Rodríguez focuses on three pivotal figures—Spanish Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, Spanish Communist Party leader Santiago Carrillo, and armed forces chief Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado—who played crucial roles in securing democracy for Spain during the years 1976-77. The series recounts how they maintained their composure when a rogue faction of army rebels stormed Spain’s Congress in 1981, an event that nearly jeopardized democracy.
“The Anatomy of a Moment” premiered to critical acclaim last Friday at the San Sebastián Film Festival, with Spanish newspaper El Mundo describing the four-part miniseries as “magnetic,” while El Correo referred to it as “the series of the year.”
Arte France also acquired “La Mesías,” a compelling family drama and legal thriller created by the visionary duo Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, known as “Los Javis,” and “Querer,” a tense family drama from Alauda Ruiz de Azúa.
“For the first time, we have multiple projects simultaneously with the same commissioner and the same production unit from a single company, whether it’s a broadcaster or platform,” shared Alexandre Piel, Arte France’s deputy head of drama, with Variety this March.
Milestone Deals with Disney+, Walter Presents, RaiPlay
Other significant recent agreements include a partnership between Movistar Plus+ and Disney+ for the pan-Latin American distribution of two prominent titles: “The Nameless,” produced by Filmax (“[REC]”), which was directed by Pau Freixas, and “Marbella,” developed by Dani de la Torre and Alberto Marini, the minds behind the previous Movistar Plus+ series “The Unit,” which enjoyed a successful run for three seasons.
Described by Jorge Pezzi, Movistar Plus+’s director of fiction and alliances, as a “psychological thriller rather than a horror piece,” “The Nameless” was released on Disney+ on September 10, facilitated through a collaboration between Movistar Plus+ and Pablo Bossi’s Gloriamundi Producciones.
Both “The Nameless” and “The Anatomy of the Moment” will serve as flagship titles for Movistar Plus+ International at the upcoming Cannes Mipcom trade fair scheduled for October 13-16.
Additionally, the Marbella crime drama, centered around a mob lawyer, has been secured by the UK’s Channel 4 streaming service, Walter Presents, which has also acquired both seasons of “Hierro” and Agustín Martínez’s rural crime series “Second Death” (“La Caza. Irati”).
RaiPlay, the on-demand service of Italy’s public broadcaster, recently launched “The New Years,” receiving positive viewer engagement and critical praise.
Licensing Pacts: ‘La Mesías,’ ‘The New Years,’ ‘Querer,’ ‘Marbella’
“Marbella” has also been picked up by leading movie and television distributor NOS Lusomundo in Portugal, alongside “Querer,” “The New Years,” and “La Mesías.”
These series are riding the wave of festival accolades and awards—“Querer” won the Grand Prix at Series Mania this March, while France’s Libération called “La Mesías” one of the most visually stunning series of the year. All four titles have become bestsellers from Movistar Plus+.
The marital rape drama “Querer” has been licensed to Argentina’s Flow and Greece’s Cinobo, while “The New Years” and “La Mesías” have been secured by Flow, Cinobo, and South Korea’s LG. “La Mesías” narrates one man’s struggle with a restrictive religious upbringing and is also licensed by Italian streaming service My Movies One, Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT, and Greece’s Cinobo.
These licensing contracts span from major global streaming platforms (such as Disney+) to free-to-air broadcasters (like Channel 4) and upscale international streaming services. The agreements revolve around projects with a strong artistic vision or what Omdia’s Maria Rua Aguete refers to as “crossover fictions” that marry auteur influences with broader, often thriller-esque narratives. Examples include “The New Years,” “The Nameless,” “Marbella,” and “Offworld,” an innovative global drama-thriller set against a blackout.
A Drill-Down on More Deals:
*Cinobo: The upscale Greek SVOD service has also acquired “Riot Police,” the debut series by Rodrigo Sorogoyen that became a massive hit at the 2020 San Sebastián Festival, along with “Offworld” and the 2025 release “La canción,” a project revisiting Spain’s unforgettable 1968 Eurovision victory and its impact on the nation’s emerging democracy.
*TRT: The Turkish public broadcaster has secured “Riot Police,” “Offworld,” the art world satire “Bellas Artes” from Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, as well as “Hierro” and “The Left-Handed Son,” which won the Best Short Format Series award at the 2023 Canneseries festival, marking the directorial debut of Rafael Cobos.
*South Korea’s LG also licensed a range of titles, including “Riot Police,” “Offworld,” “Bellas Artes,” “The Left-Handed Son,” “Galgos,” “Hierro,” “La Mesías,” and “Sentimos las Molestias,” a dramedy exploring later life, from Álvaro Fernández Armero and Juan Cavestany, creators behind the groundbreaking Movistar Plus+ comedy “Vergüenza” (2017).
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