Mexico's 3 Amigos do the Cha Cha Cha with Universal

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-05-21 18:38

CANNES, France - Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu are teaming for Cha Cha Cha, a $100 million, five-feature production partnership with financing, distribution and international sales handled by Universal Pictures and Focus Features International.

The package will include one new feature directed by each of the Oscar-nominated "Three Amigos" -- Cuaron ("Children of Men"), del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth") and Inarritu ("Babel") -- plus a film to be written and directed by Colombian helmer Rodrigo Garcia ("Nine Lives") and one by Carlos Cuaron, co-screenwriter of brother Alfonso Cuaron's "Y Tu Mama Tambien."

The three directors are longtime friends, all of whom have experienced recent crossover success in the U.S. They devised the partnership idea on their own and shopped the $100 million-range package to several studios, including Paramount Vantage and Warner Bros.

The one announced project in the deal is Carlos Cuaron's soccer comedy-drama "Rudo y Cursi," which will reunite "Tambien" leads Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna.

Universal will share ownership of all five films with the three directors. Focus Features International (FFI) will handle all non-North American distribution and sales of each project, with domestic distribution to be assigned to Universal or Focus on a film-by-film basis.

The slate will feature at least two Spanish-language films, including "Rudo."